Grace
by LilyDraken
Summary: Returning from an extended mission, Sakura finds Sasuke back in the village, and is forced to examine her past feelings and actions, her present state, and how she could possibly move forward with a life that now has Sasuke in it.
1. Home Again

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any profit from this fanfic.

* * *

The looming gates of Konaha village, fully reconstructed and beautiful as ever, brought joy to Haruno Sakura's heart. It had been nearly a year since she'd passed through those gates, having been on an extended mission at the border with her ANBU unit.

She removed the ANBU mask and lifted her face into the sunshine. Beside her, Hyuuga Neji removed his long gloves and pushed his mask up, a trace of a smile on his lips.

The rest of their unit had lagged that morning, taking a leisurely pace since Haruno and Hyuuga were so keen on racing ahead. Neji as captain of the unit would be the one to make the report to the hokage; Sakura, as medic would do likewise. The rest could take their good sweet time in returning.

Sakura however couldn't wait to get back. Border security was necessary, especially as Konoha underwent reconstruction, but it was isolating, and at times quite lonely. The members of her ANBU unit were good friends, people she had known her entire ninja career, yet she found it difficult to really connect with most of them. She would work with them, eat with them, heal their injuries, yet when it came to socializing, she found her smiles empty, and more often then not would at some point retreat into the woods for solitude.

It was in this that she came to develop a close friendship with Neji. He was quiet, unobtrusive, and didn't press issues of a personal matter. They could sit together in silence for hours at a time. Other times, they would talk quietly about whatever was burdening their minds. Neji never pressured her to discuss things she didn't wish to, and he never judged her on the things she did. Despite their closeness however, he wasn't Naruto, and her heart ached to see him above all others.

"It's good to be home," she sighed, giving Neji a bright smile.

He smiled back with a nod before turning his face upward to see the sentries staring down at them with apprehensive expressions. Sakura felt it too. She followed Neji's gaze up to see Kamizuki Izumo immediately avert his eyes. Her brow furrowed.

"Something's up," Neji said with a frown, noting the unusual presence of jounin perched atop various roofs in strategic formation.

The two picked up their pace to hustle straight to shinobi headquarters. As the tower came into sight, they could see security was tripled, and with jounin rather than chuunin. A rock formed in the pit of Sakura's stomach.

"Neji, Sakura," Hagane Kotetsu said coolly. "You should go straight up to the Hokage."

They didn't need to be told twice.

Outside the closed doors of the Hokage office, they heard the angry but controlled voice of Hatake Kakashi and the unrestrained shouting of Uzumaki Naruto.

"This matter should be handled by Ibiki." Kakashi rested against the large oak desk as Naruto paced frantically about the expansive office.

"No!" Naruto yelled, "No, I am the only one that's going to handle this!"

"Naruto," Kakashi said, his tone edgy, "you are Hokage. And you're not qualified to interrogate him. It's to be handled by Ibiki and his team."

"You're right Kakashi, I _am_ Hokage, so I get the final say."

Kakashi looked up casually toward the door, then got up and opened it. "Neji, wait out here. Sakura, come in." Neji and Sakura exchanged a look before she crossed the threshold. Kakashi shut the door behind her.

Naruto paled at the sight of her. "Sa-Sakura-chan."

Sakura noticed immediately cuts on Naruto's face, his worn, exhausted expression, and the sadness in his eyes.

"Naruto, what happened? Are you-"

He shook his head then took a deep breath. "Sasuke."

Her green eyes widened in shock, then narrowed into slits. She pushed past Kakashi, placing her chakra filled hands on Naruto's chest.

"Sakura-chan," he said, taking her hands in his, "I'm fine."

"What happened?"

Naruto squeezed her hands. "We fought. He lost. I brought him back."

Sakura's mind reeled with the information. "You… brought him back…" she shook her head, trying to grab a single thought out of thousands, "Without me?"

Naruto sighed heavily, "It's not personal, Sakura-chan. There was an opportunity; I took it. Simple as that."

"Simple as that," she echoed quietly. She raised her hand, gently fingering the nearly healed gash on his forehead. "How long ago?"

"Yesterday."

So that explained the heightened state of security. "How are you?"

"Just fine, Sakura-chan," he smiled bravely for her.

She caught the look he exchanged with Kakashi. "What aren't you telling me?"

"He's in bad shape, Sakura," Kakashi said factually.

"He…" her voice trailed off, she whipped her head back to Naruto for clarification.

"Sasuke," Naruto said quietly. "Sasuke's in bad shape."

"What kind of bad shape?" she asked warily.

"Kakashi, I know this involves you too and all, but could you please give us a few moments," Naruto requested.

"A few minutes," replied Kakashi, "but our conversation isn't finished." Kakashi quietly stepped out.

Naruto led Sakura to the large sofa in his office, sitting her down beside him. "We fought, hard, at first."

"Naruto, how bad?"

Naruto looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "I think he wanted me to kill him, Sakura-chan."

Sakura's jaw dropped, but words failed her. She could feel Naruto squeeze her hand.

"I didn't. I couldn't. I beat his sorry ass to hell, but I couldn't kill him. So I brought him back."

Sakura could see tears forming at the corners of Naruto's eyes just as they burned in hers. He blinked. A teardrop began to roll down his cheek; she wiped them away with the back of her finger, then swept him into her arms and held him, her own tears now falling freely. Naruto clung to her desperately.

Kakashi quietly slipped in, watching their exchange, his own emotions hidden behind his mask. "Naruto."

Naruto pulled himself from Sakura's embrace, slipping back into the role of hokage. "Is he medically stable?"

"Yes."

"Then send in Ibiki's unit for interrogation," he said, resigned.

"Of course." Kakashi briefly turned his attention to Sakura, "It's good to have you back."

She could only nod as he walked out the door. She caught a glimpse of Neji still waiting in the hallway before the door swung shut. She reopened the door, motioning for Neji to enter.

"Hokage-sama," he said, bowing respectfully. He pulled a scroll from his pouch, "I have the details of our successful mission outlined in here. I'll trust you to contact me if you require further briefing."

"Thank you, Neji."

Neji glanced at Sakura. Sakura looked to Naruto. Naruto said wearily, "Sasuke is back in the village."

"I assumed as much," he stated quietly. "As always, Naruto-sama, I will do whatever you ask of me."

"I appreciate it." Neji cast Sakura another quick glance before stepping out.

Another jounin stepped in before they could continue, handing Naruto a scroll. Naruto quickly glanced at it. "Yes." The jounin left just as quickly.

Sakura turned to Naruto. "I want to see him."

"Sakura-chan, please. This is the argument I just finished with Kakashi. Not until Ibiki's team interrogates him to assess whether or not he's a threat to the village."

"Naruto, you and I both know that Sasuke's more than equipped to withstand whatever Ibiki or his team might send his way. We'll get nowhere that way."

"Which is why I've given the order that Ino be the one to do it."

"Ino!?" Sakura cried. "If he-"

"He's restrained Sakura, and he's injured, so he can't hurt Ino. She worked with Kakashi enough to have a basic understanding of the Sharingan, and I believe she's in the best position to handle this."

Sakura was clearly not pleased, but did not push the issue. "I'll stand by your judgment, but as soon as their interrogation is finished, I want to see him."

"Sakura-chan-"

"I'm the head medic of the village, Naruto-sama," she said, using his honorific to make a point, "and as an S-class prisoner, he should be given a full physical by me to see what kind of shape he's in in order to determine what he's capable of handling right now."

"Nice try, Sakura-chan. He's been looked over, and tended to. You don't need to involve yourself."

"Naruto-" her voice lowered.

"End of discussion, Sakura. Not until he's been fully debriefed."

Sakura started at the lack of his usual honorific for her. It too made a point about their relationship. As casual as they always kept it between them, even after he was made Hokage, he was her superior, and she couldn't disobey an order.

She sighed. "Understood."

She turned to leave when his hand grabbed her arm and fiercely wrenched her to him. "Sakura-chan…" he whispered, "Stay with me for a little while."

Sakura collapsed in his arms. Slowly they sank to the floor, losing themselves in each other's embrace.

* * *

A/N: This is my first fic in a while, so please review! The feedback is always appreciated! Thanks

~Lily


	2. Emotion has NOTHING to do With It

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

**

* * *

**

The tiger ANBU mask had been discarded on the sofa, under which were her keys. The teakettle on the stove whistled unnoticed by Sakura as she paced her small apartment like a caged animal.

'_This is… No. He could have… No. I'm going to… calm down, Sakura._' The teakettle continued to blare its signal.

The rug upon which she was treading was worn in the linear pattern she coursed. '_I can't believe he would… Without me! Stupid bastard! What if he had... No._'

She stopped, stared at the door, shook her head, and continued pacing. '_Unbelievable… What if… No, he wouldn't have… But he's stupid… He could have… No! No, I'm not going to think this, I… calm down, Sakura!_' Her hands curled into fists at her sides.

"Damn it!" she shouted, bolting out the door, keys forgotten. The teakettle continued to scream at no one.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke sat upright, his wrists and ankles bound to the arms and legs of the chair he was in. His clothes were torn and tattered and covered in blood. He knew why no one had bothered to wash the blood off.

'_It wasn't supposed to be like this._' He was not supposed to end up in an intimidation/ torture cell about to be interrogated by Konoha's best. Shizune had tended his wounds, made sure he could stand up to it. There was nothing to interrogate him about. Orochimaru was dead, Itachi was dead, most of the Akatsuki threat was dead or neutralized, and they knew most if not all of his own unforgivable crimes. He was well aware of what he deserved.

Through the door, he could hear someone inhaling a deep breath, no doubt preparing for what was momentarily to come. Then suddenly he felt another chakra presence, an angry one.

"Sa- you- you're back!" a happy female voice said, her tone turning to horror, "You know."

"Is he in there?" asked another female, tone menacing.

"You are _not_ supposed to be here."

The door banged open. Sasuke found himself staring at Haruno Sakura. '_I never thought I'd see her in ANBU standards,_' was the first thought in his head.

Sakura walked up to him, grabbed his chin in her hand and stared him down. "If you. Ever. Hurt him. Again. I. Will. End you. Do you understand me?"

He nodded. Sakura spun on her heel and vanished.

He saw Ino stammer at Sakura as she reappeared with the bang of the door swinging behind her. "I can't believe you just- do you know how stupid that wa-"

"He's all yours," Sakura said coldly, striding past her out the far door, leaving Ino gaping behind her. The cell door slowed and then finally shut, leaving Sasuke once more in isolation.

'_ANBU suits her._'

* * *

Sakura stood in front of her apartment door, searching for the keys that were no longer in her pouch. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. Assuming she left them inside, she tried the handle and found it unlocked. She groaned, "Perfect, Sakura, you idiot."

Inside she found Neji sitting on her sofa, a cup of tea in his hands, another cup sitting on the table, still steaming. She sighed, exasperated. "Go home, Neji. We've seen enough of each other the last eleven months." He sipped his tea. "At least wait until tomorrow before getting on my case."

Neji raised an eyebrow.

That was all the admonishment Sakura needed. She walked around the table, plopped down on the sofa beside him and sighed. "I'm an emotional mess. Go see Tenten. Go see Lee. Go see whomever you wish or do whatever you like. Just don't stay here with me falling apart like I'm about to do."

Neji wordlessly grabbed her far cheek with his free hand and set her head on his shoulder.

She stayed still about a minute before sitting upright, staring at him. "I'm a jounin. I'm friggin ANBU! I should _not_ be falling apart like some simpering little academy girl!"

Neji pulled her back down, placing her head once more on his shoulder. She sighed.

Ten seconds later, Sakura started to rise again, "I mean-"

And was stopped by Neji, now holding her head firmly in place against his shoulder; with his free hand he gently sipped his tea. She sighed again. "Thank you."

Long moments passed. When she spoke again, it was just above a whisper, "I'm angry."

Neji's own tone matched hers, "Why are you angry?"

Tears began to fill Sakura's eyes in spite of herself. "I'll let you know once I do."

* * *

"We cannot simply accept an apology after all he's done to the village."

Naruto stared at the five occupants of his office, the village elders, proving to be just as useless as he always believed them to be.

"You guys haven't dealt with this situation directly," Naruto stated, "not in a really friggin long time at any rate. You don't know what he's been through, and there are some of you here who know you're directly responsible for the course he got started on to begin with. Now I'm not saying that excuses his actions, but I think we ought to at least give him a chance."

The older elders, or the 'Elderlys' as Naruto secretly called them, started whispering amongst themselves. Naruto looked to the only reliable elder, Kakashi, named elder only because he had once held the title 'Hokage,' a title he never wanted. He called himself 'the Great Placeholder' waiting until Naruto was mature enough to take the position.

Kakashi was an elder, but more importantly, he was someone still living in the current century, with superior functioning mental faculties and an intimate knowledge of the situation at hand. Kakashi also hated bureaucracy, something Naruto was finding he despised as well, which would naturally aid him in getting the 'Elderlys' to shut the hell up.

A knock at the door interrupted the whisperings. Yamanaka Ino stepped through the door. "Pardon the interruption, Naruto-sama," said Ino, stepping into the hokage office, "Interrogation complete. I got nothing. He's too well guarded."

Naruto looked to Kakashi and the other elders currently present. "He said he would cooperate with us," he said to them, "so there's no reason to think that, as Ino turned up nothing, he hasn't been completely honest with us."

"It's not that simple, Naruto-sama." Naruto rolled his eyes at the only female elder in the group.

"You want to know what isn't simple?" he said, his voice rising, "Having to deal with you lot who do nothing but sit around on your asses all day getting senile in the process. The only one of you worth anything is Kakashi because he's still an active ninja, not hiding out in all the nooks and crannies where the rest of the village old folks like to hang out and bitch about their aches and pains."

Kakashi cleared his throat. The rest of the elders sat gaping at Naruto in utter astonishment.

"Can I be dismissed?" Ino asked in a mouse-like squeak. Naruto waved his hand. Ino nearly tripped herself in her haste to get out.

"So," Naruto said, moving on as though nothing happened, "as I was saying, I think that we need to come up with a probation plan. Something that's strict, makes him pay his dues and earn back Konoha's trust, but also utilizes the skills that he does have."

The elders continued to stare in shock. Kakashi stood from his perch on the desk corner. "This isn't the first time the village has encountered a situation like this. We've used a probation system before, to much success. Given the magnitude of Uchiha Sasuke's crimes, probation requirements must be met precisely, no exceptions. We can, as a group, outline these requirements so it meets the satisfaction of all present, as it relates to the safety of the village."

Naruto gave Kakashi a sidelong glance of gratitude.

Kuzo, the eldest elder of the bunch, said, "Let's get started then."

* * *

Chakra restraints pinned Sasuke's wrists to his sides, preventing him from making any seals. He walked between Morino Ibiki and Namiashi Raidou, in front of Yamashiro Aoba and behind Hatake Kakashi as they processed to the hokage office.

"Hokage-sama," the deep tones of Ibiki's voice rang throughout the room, "he's ready."

Naruto's eyes locked on Sasuke's. "I wish to have a few moments alone with him." He put his hand off to stop any arguments before they started. "I'll expect you to secure my office by 360 degrees, with Kakashi right outside my door. Is that clear?"

Once the room was cleared, Naruto walked up to Sasuke, offering him a chair, which he gratefully sat down in. Sasuke started, "You should have let-"

"Well I didn't. And you're an ass to think you could get off that easily."

"I didn't… I don't… damn it."

"Stop trying to complicate this Sasuke," Naruto said gently. "It's not complicated. You're being put on probation. It's extensive, and grueling, and it will probably be humiliating, but I believe in you. I know that you understand why we, the village, need to be so strict, and I believe that you can do this. Pay your dues and rejoin Konoha as you should have always done."

"What are the requirements?" Sasuke sighed warily.

"You'll be under 24 hour surveillance for a period of seven days, broken into 12 hour shifts. Additionally, you will need to check in with your probation officers every six hours for the first two weeks, then every twelve hours after that."

"Who are my probation officers?" he asked quietly.

"Kakashi, Genma, Raidou, and myself. You are to stagger your checkpoints so you're checking in with one of us at each required time. Violation of check-ins will result in loss of privileges. Kakashi will be your first check-in. He'll give you info for your next check, so on and so forth.

"You are to compile a list of all your jutsus, forbidden or otherwise, to be turned in to me by the end of the day. You've been assigned living quarters until something more suitable can be arranged."

Sasuke nodded wearily.

"You'll be allowed taijutsu training only, prearranged, under the observance of a chaperone. Sparring is forbidden with the exception of someone of similar taijutsu skill level for the purpose of training only. Fighting any Konoha-nin without prior authorization is expressly forbidden, punishable by death."

"Naruto-"

Naruto coughed gently.

"-sama," Sasuke reminded himself, "Naruto-sama, you know I'm not a threat. You should have-"

"Killed you, Sasuke? No."

"-let me die. You should have let me-"

"No!" he said vehemently. "End of discussion."

He turned away to the window, fists clenched at his sides.

Sasuke stared at Naruto, his friend once, rival always, '_stupid idiot, always wearing his heart on his sleeve…_" But he looked so sad and Sasuke recognized that it was his fault.

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered, deliberately dropping the honorific. Naruto turned to him, his blue eyes pools of vast emotion too deep to comprehend; still, there was so much hope in them. "Naruto… I… I'm sorry."

Naruto's pained expression softened. He felt stinging in his eyes and fought to keep it at bay; his lips turned to a small, acknowledging smile. "I know."

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoy! Please review! Thanks!

~Lily


	3. Repercussions

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

* * *

Sakura stood quietly in the hallway, awaiting her fate. Down the corridor, she saw Sai heading her way. Inwardly she groaned.

"Sakura."

"Sai."

"How are you?"

"I'm just fine, Sai, thanks."

He studied her for a fraction of a second. "You're lying." Sakura gave him a scathing look, as if to say, 'Of course I'm lying, you idiot.' He continued, "You don't need to. I'm here for both of you."

Sakura's eyes went upward, her head tilted back and forth; she sighed, "I know. And, I appreciate it."

"I'm not going to push. I know how futile pushing is when it's you being pushed. But I just wanted you to know that, well, you've been missed."

Sakura reached out and squeezed his hand. "I missed you too, Sai."

The door to the hokage's office opened. Izumo stepped out. "Haruno, he'll see you now."

Sakura gave Sai a weak smile. "See you later." Sai nodded.

She walked in, softly closing the door behind her.

* * *

"This is it," Kakashi stated in a bored tone.

Sasuke looked around the studio apartment. It was small and bare save for a bed, table, two chairs, and a stove. The walls were bright yellow. "Am I allowed to repaint?"

His question was answered with a shrug. "As stated, you'll be under surveillance, so curb the urge to call out and throw down. You're to meet Shiranui Genma in three hours time. It is your responsibility to locate him, though he'll likely be at headquarters. If you're late, your housing privilege will be revoked."

"I thought Naruto-" a pause, "-sama said six hours."

"Today it's three."

'_So this is the way it's going to be,_' he sighed. He walked to the closet and slid the door open. Inside were plain black shirts of varying sleeve lengths and black pants. Two pairs of new ninja shoes sat at the bottom. He was relieved to find not a single Uchiha crest in sight.

"Thank you, for the attire, and the apartment."

"See you later." Kakashi vanished with a poof.

Sasuke sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed, staring at the obscenely bright walls. Perhaps a light blue and taupe, that would be nice.

And then there it was. Lying flat on a tiny stand on the far side of the bed. Sasuke slowly rolled across and grabbed it, realizing it was a picture frame.

His stomach clenched, knowing what he was going to find when he turned the frame over. He wasn't ready to face their smiling, scowling faces, back when they were a team, when they were happy, before he'd done all he did.

'_But I _am_ here, so I guess I'm going to have to deal with it,_' he told himself. He took a deep breath and turned the frame over.

His brows knitted together. A scrap of paper? It was. A piece of paper covered all of their faces, stuck between the photo and the glass. He pried the back of the frame out, removing the slip of paper. He glanced quickly at the photo then opened the folded piece of parchment:

_--Hey, once you're up for it, we really need to see about updating this. You look like an ass… ~N--_

Sasuke smirked, shaking his head in spite of himself.

He had to admit, as things didn't go down the way he'd hoped, this was well more than he deserved. Leave it to Naruto to bend over backwards to welcome him back to the fold. The hard part was dealing with every other person who wasn't Naruto. Kakashi had given him only cold indifference, and Sakura had already issued a death threat.

He deserved it, he knew. He'd nearly killed every single one of them at some point, and in cold blood besides. He deserved Kakashi's indifference and Sakura's rage, and more.

Which he knew he would get, venturing out into the village to find Genma for his first check-in. Scorn, derision, hateful words… the list could and likely would go on.

Sasuke fell back into the mattress, realizing it wasn't all that comfortable.

He would face everything they dished out to him. He would face them all to reclaim his honor, restore his integrity-

"Ouch."

Sasuke rolled over, punching the mattress. Then again. Within moments the mattress was on the floor; he was in an all out battle, throwing kicks and punches at lightning speed.

"Stupid-" punch, "stupid," punch, "fucking-" kick, "bastard-" punch, kick, kick-

Sasuke collapsed into a heap on the battered mattress. He exhaled slowly, allowing the pain to consume him.

* * *

"You disobeyed a direct order."

Sakura nodded. She had never seen Naruto so furious. Well, she'd also never given him a reason to be so furious, at least not with her. He was pissed enough that he couldn't even look at her, choosing instead to stare out the window at his image in the mountain.

Then he spun around. "Do you have any idea, Sakura-chan, any _idea_ how _stupid_ that was!?"

She said nothing; there was nothing she could say. She knew exactly how stupid it was; it was only after the fact that it had occurred to her.

He turned to the window again, saying nothing for a long time. When he turned around again, he was calm, his expression one of deep hurt. "Do you not respect me?"

Sakura was completely caught off guard by the question. "What?"

Naruto sighed, "Do you not respect me?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I respect you Naruto!"

"You don't act like you do," he said simply. "It never occurred to you that I had a reason for not wanting you to see Sasuke until he'd been questioned. It never occurred to you that I had a valid point, or that I was trying to protect you. You don't respect me as Hokage, and you don't respect _me_."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "Naruto, nothing could be farther from the truth! I can't believe you would-"

"Prove me wrong, Sakura-chan." The pain in his voice was killing her.

She took a deep breath. "What I did was wrong. It was irresponsible, foolish, in violation of a direct order from my hokage… it was wrong. I know that. I just… when it comes to you, I can't think straight."

Naruto looked perplexed at this. "Me?"

"Yes, you, you idiot!" she cried. "You don't honestly think I went to go chat about how _he's_ doing, do you? Do you even know what I did? Or how fantastically stupid it was?"

Sakura could tell from his confused, shocked expression that he didn't. "I went and threatened, yes, _threatened_ him to not hurt _you_ again."

Naruto's eyes widened as his jaw dropped. "Sakura-chan…"

Seeing that look on his face brought her to tears. "You just get so _stupid_ where he's concerned! And _I_ get stupid when my emotions are involved." She rolled her eyes upward, desperately trying to keep her burning tears from falling. "Look, I know what I did was wrong." A tear slipped down her cheek. "I can't say 'my temper got the better of me' and just leave it at that; I know it's not that simple. …Except that it is. What happened, I mean, with my temper and all." She rolled her eyes at herself as the tears spilled over completely.

Naruto stood dumbfounded.

She took a deep breath. "Naruto-sama," she said, collecting herself, "please punish me."

"Sakura-chan-"

"If you believe that this is about respect, I'm showing you I respect you. As Hokage, you are obligated to punish me for disobeying an order."

Naruto shook his head.

"Naruto-sama, you have to!"

He smiled, his head still shaking, "No, I can't Sakura-chan, not when you violated a command in order to protect someone you love."

He opened his arms; Sakura threw herself into them, "You idiot!" she cried.

"I think you've clearly demonstrated you're a bigger idiot than I am. And don't think I'm not still pissed at you; I am." Naruto squeezed her tightly. "If he _was_ a threat, he could have-"

"I know," she cut him off. Her eyes met his. "I know."

"Don't ever be stupider than me again, Sakura-chan. Ever."

* * *

Shiranui Genma lounged against the wall of shinobi headquarters, senbon between his lips, scanning the front doors of the hospital across the way.

"So where are you taking her tonight?" asked Aoba, beside him.

Genma flashed him a grin. "That's for me to know tonight, and you to find out about tomorrow."

"You're sick, bro."

Perched in a nearby tree, Sasuke rolled his eyes at the exchange. He had wanted to catch Genma alone for his check-in, but as usual, fortune chose not to favor him.

"You gonna bother to show yourself, Uchiha, or continue hiding like a little girl?" asked Genma.

Sasuke sighed, sliding off the branch to land gracefully at Genma's feet. "I'm here for my check-in."

"I surmised as much."

Sasuke bit back the irritated retort. He took a deep breath, "Kakashi said you would have further instructions for me."

"Yeah," he flicked the senbon up with his tongue, "Raidou, six hours."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "I was informed that today would be every three hours."

Aoba chuckled. "Three hours for check-in with Genma. He's not gonna want you interrupting another three from now."

He swallowed the 'tch' in his throat. '_I cannot allow myself to show irritation. They're goading me. I can not, will not._' He calmly repeated, "Raidou, six hours."

Genma gave a curt nod, appraising Sasuke. "Should give you plenty of time to find him. Heard he wants to make you work for it."

"Good to know."

Genma stood up, his eyes having found his target. He brushed by Sasuke, whispering, "And you _will_ work for it," as he sauntered away. The innuendo was not lost on Sasuke.

Aoba sized him up, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses. "Hmph." And then he was gone.

Sasuke frowned. He turned to see Genma wrap his arm around Shizune. She waved to someone; as they walked away he saw the kunoichi Shizune had waved to. '_Sakura._'

Sakura waved back, shouting, "Have a good time!"

"Oh don't worry, Haruno," Genma hollered back, "we will!"

"Goodnight, Sakura! Have fun!"

Sasuke studied her. She looked so different now in a simple green sundress rather than the ANBU uniform. Her hair was now down, cut differently than he'd last remembered it. '_But so many things are different now._'

Sakura's cheeks were rosy, she was smiling, her eyes made greener by her dress. She looked radiant. He watched as Hinata and Kiba came up, giving her huge hugs in turn. She talked animatedly with them, her hands going in every which direction making some point or another. She laughed at something Kiba said; Hinata turned pink. Then Tenten and Lee joined, each embracing her. And then Neji slipped beside her, whispering into her ear.

Sakura looked up with a start, her eyes meeting Sasuke's. All traces of her bright smile vanished. Sasuke blinked, performed a lightning quick seal and went up in a smoke cloud.

Back in his sad little apartment, he sat on the mattress on the floor. Outside the sky was brilliant with oranges, reds and pinks as the sun set. The colors did wonders for the yellow walls; it now felt like the room was consumed in flames. '_I should go up in flames._'

Pain seared through his arms. He flexed his hands, rolling his wrists around to facilitate movement in the joints. He winced. '_Shouldn't have done that. Damn it._'

Sasuke could admit he didn't like the way Sakura's smile vanished at the sight of him. Ironically, there was once a time just the sight of him made Sakura light up like a lantern. '_How much times have changed._'

The constantly changing constant observers set Sasuke's senses off. He had to keep reminding himself he was being watched, to quiet his ninja instincts, to keep from, as Kakashi so aptly put, 'calling out and throwing down.'

Sasuke settled into bed, or rather the mattress on the floor as the pain was too great to relocate it tonight.

A knock at the door puzzled him. He wasn't due to meet Raidou for another five hours. He rolled off the mattress and answered the door.

"Sakura!"

* * *

A/N: Hope you like this one! As always, please leave reviews.

~Lily


	4. Working for It

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

_

* * *

  
_

Sakura stood before him, looking annoyed. Her features seemed soft in the setting sun, giving her a surreal glow. Her eyes however were full of fire.

"What was that?" she asked.

It took Sasuke a moment to figure out what 'that' she was referring to.

"My presence was unwelcome," he replied, "I'd completed my check-in and didn't wish to trouble you with an uncomfortable situation when you seemed so happy… before you saw me."

"You should have-"

"Let me remind you that when we last spoke, you informed me that if I do something, left only vaguely defined, you would 'end me.' I had no reason to think you'd wish to see me."

Sakura's stone cold expression spoke volumes of what she thought of that. "Are you going to invite me in?"

"Are you going to threaten me again? Because I'm not allowed to engage in any fighting, even in self-defense, against a leaf-nin."

Sakura pushed past him into the tiny room. Sasuke closed the door, turning around to face her as she stood in the center of the room appraising it. Her eyes met his. "The color is awful."

Her tone suggested restraint, Sasuke guessed. He couldn't blame her. He would be on his guard were he her. He attempted to lighten the mood with, "I think Naruto picked it out."

"Naruto-sama," she corrected.

_'Well, clearly I'm going to get nowhere with that approach._' He sighed. He could handle derision from everyone but her. She was also a person he deserved to get it from the most.

He could still remember standing behind her, dripping with blood, crazed, about to kill her. Kami, he'd wanted to kill everyone. Now all he wanted was- '_Wait! When she threatened me, it was specifically about Naruto. Why?_'

"Well, you're right," she continued with an indifferent shrug, "he probably did. You're lucky it's not orange."

"I was thinking light blue."

"Hm." She turned away, her eyes scanning the room. "Why is your mattress on the floor?"

"We had a disagreement."

The last traces of sunlight faded as dusk lay claim to the land. Outside, the lanterns lining the streets lit up. Sasuke stepped over and flicked the light switch. A fluorescent light sputtered to life, illuminating the room, and Sakura, her features now detailed and hard, matching her demeanor.

She turned and faced him, her eyebrow arched. "You had a disagreement with a mattress?"

Sasuke detected the faintest hint of amusement in her tone. "Granite is softer," he replied delicately, gauging her reaction.

A snicker. "So you thought you'd teach it a thing or two about lightening up?"

'_Now that's a loaded question,_' he sighed, weighing his options before settling on, "Perhaps I will keep it yellow. It's a cheerful color."

Sakura shook her head, "No, you'd go crazy."

'_She still knows me,_' he realized.

"Light blue and taupe would go quite nicely in here," she continued. "You'll need to get a bookshelf, of course, and a scroll unit. I have an extra one you can use in the meantime once I clear all my shit out of it."

For now, that was as much a truce as Sasuke knew he was going to get. Her walls were still up, high up, hell, she was veritable fortress, but she had offered something. It was infinitely better than her ice.

'_Wait, scrolls…_' "Oh, shit!" Sasuke muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"I've got to get these scrolls to Naruto – sama. I… got distracted. Will he still be in his office?"

"No," Sakura replied curtly with an eye roll, "but I do know where he'll be in about ten minutes."

Sasuke waited, and waited. His eyebrows hitched; he rolled his hand out in irritation.

"Come on," she said, heading to the door. Sasuke stared a moment, weighing his options and realizing he had none. "Are you coming?"

He followed her out the door.

* * *

The bar was crowded and loud. In the back corner, Sakura spotted Sai, Ino, Kiba, Lee, Tenten, Neji, Hinata and Naruto at a large table covered with drinks. Behind her, Sasuke was tense with discomfort.

"Yo, Sakura!" Ino shouted, waving her over, "Get your ass over here! You're already behind!"

Sakura waved back, raising a single finger to indicate just a moment. She turned to Sasuke. "I'll let him know you're here with the scrolls, okay?"

Sasuke nodded. She went to leave when he grabbed her arm. "Sakura…"

She stopped, a terse breath escaping her. Sasuke's dark eyes searched hers in an unasked question. "Look, I've been gone almost a year, and this bash has been planned for Neji and me for a long time. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Sasuke's eyes flickered briefly, trying to mask disappointment. "Hn."

Sakura stepped away, blowing out an exasperated sigh as she rolled her eyes. She got to the table where Naruto disentangled himself from Hinata and threw an arm over her shoulders. "Our guest of honor has arrived!" he shouted. A scowl from Neji prompted Naruto to correct, "Our _second_ guest of honor has arrived!"

"Naruto," she whispered quietly into his ear, "Sasuke's hiding out front wanting to talk to you. Said he's got scrolls you need."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," he whispered back. "Be right back, guys."

Naruto scurried towards the front. Sakura took the seat he'd vacated. "What's your poison, Sakura?" asked Kiba.

"Coconut rum, straight, and a lot of it."

"Coming right up. Any others?" He gathered up the orders and left.

"Sakura," Ino said with a deliberate gaze across the table, "are things…" she flashed her eyes in Naruto's direction, "okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling. "We're good."

"Are _you_ okay?" Neji asked quietly against her ear. She smiled at him and nodded.

Tenten moved in close to Neji, wrapping her arms around his waist. Neji placed his hand over hers, turning his cheek to her in a smile of affection.

Kiba approached, a bottle of rum and a glass in one hand, a bottle of whiskey and two jugs of juice in the other. "Mix-n-match time," he said, plunking the goods on the table. He handed Sakura the empty glass and pushed the rum towards her. She filled her glass full and knocked it back. "Whoa, slow down there, tiger."

"Sakura likes it hard," Sai offered.

"Yes I do."

Naruto returned, wrapping one arm around Hinata and the other around Sakura. "My two best girls."

Conversation went on, everyone filling Neji and Sakura in on everything they missed in their time away. Sakura couldn't help but notice how Naruto glowed with Hinata beside him, but every once in a while he cast her a look that let her know his thoughts were elsewhere. Yet he wouldn't leave, not when this 'welcome home' celebration had been so anticipated. More to the point, he wouldn't leave _her_.

Sakura finished her third drink, finally starting to feel a buzz and unbelievable thankfulness for it. The rest of their group looked pretty toasted; even Neji's cheeks were pink. Naruto, who usually metabolized things so fast, looked drunker than Sakura had ever seen him. '_Understandably so._'

The room began to tilt, just slightly, comfortably. She began a fourth. Ino said something that warranted laughter; Sakura happily obliged. The rum just went down so smoothly. Kiba and Ino kissed. '_Wait, when did that happen?_' She was sure Ino would tell her about it the next day. She couldn't find it in her to care right now.

She lifted the glass up; a hand shot out, grabbing her arm. Sakura trailed the hand, up the arm to a pale face framed by dark hair with piercing dark eyes. Her brows knitted together in confusion.

"Sakura," he said gently, "you've had enough."

She stared at him a moment, then nodded. She looked around, seeing everyone laughing and enjoying themselves. Suddenly she had to get out of there. "Sai," she whispered, "I want to go home."

* * *

Sasuke closed the door to his apartment and fell into the mattress. He'd met Raidou for his check-in, arriving in time by only moments. Raidou had indeed made him work for it, chasing him all over the damn village. Finally Raidou allowed Sasuke to catch him, only to say, "Naruto-sama, six hours."

Everything hurt. His arms throbbed in pain, but he refused to do or take anything for it, not even ice. '_This is what I deserve,_' he told himself. '_Since Naruto didn't kill me, then at the very least I should suffer for what I've done to them._'

So now he had six hours in which he could lie staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. It's the way it always was. He was never able to sleep, not after he'd killed Madara, '_God it was like waking up from a bad dream,_' and realized, truly for the first time realized, what he had done, and how many he had hurt.

Sleep was a precious but rare gift. In those few hours, he could be who he used to be, someone honorable, who put the lives of his important people above himself, when hate and rage were lesser things.

Of course that was on the nights he didn't have the nightmares, reliving all the horrors he had wrought upon the world. He had been such a destructive force, having lost all humanity. On those nights, sleep was a bitter enemy.

But this night… sleep would not visit this night. His two most important people were at opposite ends of the spectrum. Naruto, despite his role as Hokage, was making a marked effort to embrace him, to wipe the slate clean. Sakura however, the person who had always adored him, loved him without even understanding the meaning of the word, she was so bitterly cold.

'_It wasn't supposed to be like this. They should have had their justice. I should have gotten what I deserved._'

It was neither here nor there. He was back in Konoha, regardless of his say. He had to make due with the circumstances of his present situation. And he had no choice but to endure Sakura's ice, and hope that one day, one day she might warm up to him. But, oh god, how her ice hurt.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers! Please continue leaving your feedback!

~Lily


	5. Back into the Groove

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

_

* * *

_

Sakura awoke with a start to find herself in her room in her own bed. It took a few moments for her mind to wrap itself around this fact. The sky was a smoky dark blue, indicating the sun's imminent rise. '_Home. I'm home… and Sasuke's back._'

She saw Sai sprawled across her desk, sound asleep. Beside her, Naruto snored softly. She vaguely remembered Sai walking her home, but had no recollection of how the blond ended up there.

Her stomach growled. She groaned, '_That's what you get for drinking straight without eating first._' She got up, padded into the kitchen and realized there was nothing to eat. Her abdomen clenched angrily. "Uhhh…"

Sai quietly entered. "Go sit," he ordered. Sakura felt too queasy not to obey. Sai opened a cupboard and pulled out a loaf of bread, sticking two pieces into the toaster. "I figured with the chaos and everything that you'd forget to get groceries, so I stocked you up on the essentials."

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "How sick did I get?"

"You didn't. Jam, right?" She nodded. He set the plate of toast in front of her then sat beside her. "Don't feel obligated to give more than you can. You don't owe him anything."

Sakura bit into the toast, frowning as she swallowed. "My concern is Naruto."

"Naruto-sama can take care of himself. And he'll come to you if he needs you. Your concern should be you."

* * *

In the next room, Naruto groggily woke up, finding himself in Sakura-chan's bed. He'd rushed after her when she and Sai had left the night before. He had known exactly what was on her mind, and he didn't want her to be alone.

He stood up, stretched and then meandered into the kitchen, following the delicious smell of bacon and eggs. He found Sai at the stove, Sakura sitting at the counter.

"Good morning, sleepy-head," Sakura teased, patting the chair next to her. Naruto sat down, leaning his head on her shoulder.

"You stayed," he said to Sai, wiping at his eyes.

"I stayed. I wasn't about to leave the two of you alone."

"It's not like that!" Naruto grumbled defensively.

"I know exactly what it's like. You both need stability right now so you don't go flying out of orbit. Last I checked, I'm part of this team too. And I'm the only one that doesn't have emotional involvement with _him_."

"Of course you're still a part of this team, you moron," Naruto spat back then mumbled, "Do I get some?"

Sai gave him a scathing look, swishing the skillet, flipping the eggs. There were several in there.

Sakura nibbled on a piece of toast. "This is all very considerate of you Sai." Sai seemed to stiffen momentarily at the comment, then relaxed and nodded.

"You're welcome." He set down three plates and they all dug in, eating ravenously.

A knock at the door interrupted. "I've got it," Sai started for the door, pulling it open.

"Sasuke," he said quietly.

Sasuke glanced over the room, taking care not to near the threshold unless invited in. When his eyes met Sakura's she got up and walked out. He sighed. He looked to Naruto and said, "Checking-in, Naruto-sama."

"Kakashi, six hours." He took a bite of bacon. "You wanna do lunch?" Sasuke hesitated, noting Sai staring at him. Naruto persisted, "This is the part where you say yes."

"Fine. May I be dismissed?"

Naruto looked puzzled at Sasuke's apparent discomfort. "Yeah, sure."

Sasuke vanished.

Sakura returned, carrying a large scroll unit, to find Sai back at the counter and Sasuke gone. "Where did he- ugh," she sighed in disgust, setting the awkward unit on the floor. "So inconsiderate," she mumbled.

* * *

Sakura donned her personal ninja attire of red shirt, black shorts, khaki flap skirt and leg guards now that she was back in the village. The ANBU standards were comfortable, but when she was in the village, she still liked to feel like a girl.

She stepped into the Yamanaka flower shop. "Ino! I'm here for our lunch date!"

Ino stepped out, removing her apron. "They just opened up a new sushi place to rave reviews. Want to go?"

"Sure." The two headed out into the street. The stand was literally just around the corner. They ordered their rolls and faced each other.

"So tell me about-"

"I can't believe how unbelievably fucking stupid you were, Sakura," Ino said in a strict tone. "There aren't even words for what you did."

"I know Ino. I'm well aware of how foolish it was, and I've already been bitched out about it by far scarier people than you." A beat, "But thanks for caring enough to tell me off too. So tell me about you and Kiba."

"Well, there's not much to tell. Long mission, crazy night, and now here we are a few months later, in a relationship and ridiculously happy."

The chef set two rolls of sushi down in front of them. "Good for you!" Sakura replied. "I'm really happy to hear it." The two dug in ravenously.

"So what's with all these rumors about you and Neji? Any truth to it?"

Sakura smiled, "No, Neji and I did not have the sordid love affair everyone thinks we did. We're just friends, good friends."

"Good. I mean I know he helped you with the Requirement and all, but I assumed that was just professional. But the way he leans in and whispers in your ear all seductive like, I was starting to wonder."

"He's become very protective of me, especially given this new situation, and I have to admit, I appreciate it."

"Understandable."

"Ladies," said Kiba, interrupting their conversation. He stepped up to Ino, giving her a long kiss. "Enjoying lunch?"

"Always. Sakura was just enlightening me about her scandalous relationship with Neji."

"Well lucky for you, that's small news compared to Uchiha's return. How are you handling that, by the way?"

"I wish people would stop asking me that," she sighed. "I know that Team Seven has always been in the spotlight, but it's not because we choose to be, and right now I think all of us could do with some privacy to deal with it on our own."

Kiba thought about it a moment, then nodded. "I can understand that. Just realize that, annoying as it is, we only ask because we care about you."

"I know Kiba, and thanks for it." Sakura smiled, glancing up at the clock on the wall. "Hate to do this, but I've got to get going. I have an appointment I can't miss."

She gave Ino a quick hug before jetting off.

* * *

Sasuke took a deep breath, and then closed his front door behind him. '_Lunch with Naruto… sama, what the hell was I thinking?_' He'd been going out into the village for his check-ins, but was able to stay to the shadows until the actual check-in and then quickly return to the sanctuary of his pathetic abode. '_Still, anything is better than the Uchiha district._'

He wasn't ready to go back there, to go through the deserted, ramshackle remains in the corner of the village that had belonged to his clan. He didn't want to see his family crest of fan and flame covering every square inch of building there. '_It wasn't just pride, it was vanity._'

What it now represented to him wasn't the family he had lost but the rampant corruption that had made their demise necessary. Now that he could think clearly, without the influence of Madara and the constant whisperings in his ear, he could recognize how devastating Itachi's situation had been. Sasuke wanted to believe that were he his brother, he would have made the same decision, to place the safety of the village above his own clan, but he knew it just wasn't true. His own actions were clear evidence of that.

'_Everything Itachi had been, everything he had sacrificed, making himself the villain so that I could one day be a hero, all for nothing… Kami, how disappointed he'd be in me._'

"Hey Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked ahead, his reverie broken by Naruto's shouting. "Naruto-sama."

"Ichiraku's. My treat."

Sasuke smiled, "Sounds good."

* * *

Kakashi stood against the rail of the red bridge Team Seven had always met at as genin, waiting patiently for Sakura. He'd surprise her once for being on time to an appointment. He held in his hand volume three of Icha Icha Paradise, but was more interested in watching a genin team practice their jutsus as they prepared for the chuunin exams. Sarutobi Konohamaru, Asuma's nephew, was getting quite impressive.

"You're here on time," said Sakura stepping up, a pleasant smile on her face. "So we've got a bit of work to do today. Are we going to the hospital, or shall we spend it outdoors in the sunshine?"

"Mmm, outdoors I think."

"Lead on." Sakura followed Kakashi to a tall tree nearby. He leaned up against it, Sakura sitting beside him, facing him. "What's your pain level today?"

"Seven," Kakashi replied quietly, pulling up his hitai-ate, revealing his sharingan. "Shizune's been a tremendous help in your absence, but I admit, I've missed your touch."

"Well everyone knows you like my touch best," she winked. Her hands emanated with a soft green glow as she held her fingertips to Kakashi's left temple. "So tell me about everything I've missed while I was away."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "You know I'd much rather hear about your mission at the border."

Sakura used her own chakra to probe the chakra pathways surrounding Kakashi's sharingan eye. The damage was old and extensive, undoubtedly due to the initial transplant and years of use, but it had also been discovered that use of the sharingan would eventually lead to blindness. Because Kakashi was not a natural sharingan user and he had no way of turning it off, even hidden it drained his chakra, causing frequent, and worsening headaches.

"Well, it was the border. Our squad was the roaming unit, systematically checking in with the outposts to ensure the new regulations and fortifications were up to par. We never stayed in one place for more than a few days at a time. We encountered a few skirmishes here and there, but nothing too serious."

Kakashi groaned as Sakura hit a tender point just behind his eye. Sakura continued, to distract him from the pain, "We were sent out on several foreign missions, a few of which got pretty crazy. One in particular was the hired assassination of a daimyo of Waterfall who had been stirring up a lot of trouble. We had a few injuries, but most were minor."

He winced. Sakura caught sight of Kakashi's hand curled into a fist. "I think we should stop for today."

"No, keep going."

"Kakashi, this needs to be done slowly. I know how you like to push yourself, but it'll only do more harm than good. Let me anesthetize it for you, and then we'll wrap up."

Kakashi nodded. "You do realize once I'm in better shape, I deserve a reward for all the pain you've put me through."

Sakura rolled her eyes, turning her chakra to ice, letting it flood Kakashi's overextended chakra pathway. He groaned in relief. "You old pervert. Well," she said with a coy smile, "as soon as we get this thing working again, I'll give you a one-time only show, but… you do not get to use your sharingan to memorize it!"

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. The two suddenly felt the intruding presence of someone else's chakra. Sakura spun around and looked up at Sasuke. "Checking in, Kakashi," he said quietly.

"Genma, six hours." Kakashi stood up, pulling Sakura to her feet and replying, "I look forward to it."

Sakura blushed as her former sensei walked away. She turned to Sasuke only to find him already gone.

* * *

'_Kakashi and Sakura… that's just disturbing._' Sasuke headed down the street on his return home. He was acutely aware of the villagers' eyes on him as he passed by. '_And it just doesn't stop._'

Not that he expected it to. It had only been a few days, and nearly all shinobi showed open distain toward him. The civilians took their cues from the village ninja, so it was going to be a good long while before anyone looked at him with anything other than loathing.

'_Guess I'm going home then,_' he groaned, realizing how cramped and, well, yellow it was.

He needed paint. Sasuke headed toward the home supply store. He knew it well. His mother had loved taking him to pick out wood paneling and paint colors when he was a child; he had always loved the color swatches, and could never understand why his father was so opposed to Sasuke painting his room bright yellow.

'_Yet now it is, and I can't wait to change it,_' he mused at the irony.

He stopped out front of the shop, looking in. He could see the clerk glaring at him from behind the register. Sasuke sighed, about to step in.

"Something you need?" someone asked from behind him. Sasuke spun around to see Sai.

"Paint," he grumbled.

"Ah. Come with me." Sai walked away, leaving Sasuke little choice but to follow him. The two walked down the street.

Sasuke appraised Sai as they walked. '_So this was my replacement._' He was silent, deliberate, not unlike Itachi. His coloring even looked somewhat Uchiha. His manner of dress certainly didn't.

The thought that Sai was luring him into a trap to slit his throat briefly crossed his mind, but he dismissed it.

Sai led him to an art supply store. "Ah," smiled the female clerk happily, "Sai-kun, so nice to see you again! Your usual?"

"My friend needs room paint," Sai replied in monotone, tilting his head toward Sasuke.

The pretty clerk's eyes widened, "Oh, um… what color?"

"Something light blue, and taupe," Sasuke replied quietly, "if that's not too much trouble."

"No," she shook her head, "no trouble."

She quickly mixed the paints, avoiding eye contact with Sasuke. Sai perused parchments and brushes, selecting those of the highest quality, tossing them into a basket before going up to the counter.

"Your black ink as well, Sai-kun?" she asked, lugging the two cans of paint onto the counter.

"Please."

Sasuke watched her vanish into the back to reappear with several bottles of ink, placing those on the counter as well. Sai emptied out his basket. She rang up all of Sai's items; Sai said softly, "His paint. Please apply my discount to that as well."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Sai paid the full amount, handing the cans to Sasuke, then wordlessly walked out. Sasuke's wrists cramped at the weight, but he sped up to catch Sai. "Let me pay you."

"You have no means of repaying me until you're restored to active status. Until such time, you're suffering enough; you don't need your sanctuary to be a cause of further stress."

Words failed Sasuke. "I'm indebted to you, Sai. Thank you."

"I charge ten percent interest."

Sasuke could feel a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Thanks."

* * *

A/N: To my reviewers, thank you so much! Your support is greatly appreciated. As always, continue to leave love!

~Lily


	6. Taking Responsibility

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

_

* * *

_

Half the large wall was 'Little Pond' blue, the other half still garish yellow; the paint can and brush lay abandoned. Sasuke's arms throbbed from the effort. He lay back on the mattress, letting the pain sear through him.

Bang, bang, bang. "Sasuke!"

'_Sakura,_' he realized wearily. He couldn't deal with her right now. He needed rest, and silence.

"Sasuke, open the door!"

He let out a long, exasperated sigh and then slowly got up and pulled the door open to see a large scroll unit, pink hair visible just above it. "Here, let me," he said, taking the awkward box from her. Flames ripped through his arms. He grimaced.

Sakura noticed his wince, reaching back for it.

"I've got it," he said through gritted teeth.

She ignored him, grabbing it from him anyway. "Where do you want it?"

Sasuke looked down, away from her gaze. "Over there," he tilted his head indicating the spot next to the bed.

She set it down and then picked up the mattress from the floor, situating it back into the bed frame. Her keen eyes scanned the half-done walls before spotting the abandoned paint supplies. She grabbed his hand, dragging him to the bed, sitting down.

She took his wrist, pulling up the sleeve. Sasuke wrenched out of her grip. "What the hell are you-"

She yanked both his arms into her firm grasp. She let chakra flood through her hands into his wrists. Sasuke tried to wrench away again, "Stop it." He was met with a fierce glare.

Her eyes closed as her chakra probed his wrists, flooding into his arms. Sasuke wanted to pull away, but her cool chakra was such blessed relief.

"How long ago?" she asked, her eyes still closed.

Sasuke's eyebrow raised, '_Astute._' "Six months."

"Foolish."

Sasuke glared, pulling back, "You don't know what I was-"

"Restoring your honor by taking your life," she said, her eyes locked with his. Sasuke nodded, his lips parted in awe of her.

"You wanted to feel it," she whispered gently, "you wanted to feel every second of life ebbing away, and you didn't want to be able to save yourself."

"Yes," he whispered. '_God how she knows me…_'

"What happened?" she asked, closing her eyes as she flowed chakra into him.

"Someone found me shortly after I'd lost consciousness. He took me to the local hospital where they treated the wounds." He sighed. "Since I wasn't… successful… I reevaluated things. After everything I'd put Naruto through, and you, well… he deserved to be the one to-"

"You honestly believed he would?"

"I goaded him," Sasuke stated. "I did the same thing to Naruto that my brother did to me. I tried to make him hate me.

"He needed to believe I would destroy the village, destroy everything and everyone he ever cared about. I took a soldier pill so I could fight him earnestly; he couldn't know I was injured. I told him how I would…

"We fought. He gave it his all as he always does. Just as he was about to-" Sasuke paused and took a deep breath, "He stopped, looked me straight in the eyes, and then told me he didn't believe me, that he would never give up on me, that I had it in my power to set things right so Itachi's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain, that he wouldn't let me take the easy way out.

"Naruto said to me he was and always would be my brother, and that I had better just accept it… so he brought me back."

Sakura smiled, her eyes still closed. Sasuke felt such indescribable relief from the constant pain of his poor decision-making, both from Sakura's skilled healing and her soothing presence. "I don't deserve this," he said quietly.

"Why not?"

"After everything I've done…"

Sakura opened her eyes and looked at him. "Sasuke, the only difference between you and I is that I never had to suffer the consequences of my bad decisions."

Sasuke searched her eyes, so full of emotion and truth. And then he realized what she meant. He stated forcefully, "It didn't happen."

She smiled sadly. "It did happen, Sasuke." She laced her fingers with his, rotating his wrists to assess her progress in his joints. "I made a choice, a terrible, unforgivable decision that would have ruined and probably ended my life."

Sasuke clenched his fingers around Sakura's, stopping their movement. He stared her down. "It _didn't_ happen."

"And just like that, you can wash it away?" she asked quietly. "It's not that simple. I saw what that seal did to you-"

"It wasn't the seal. _I_ made the decision to go. It was _my_ choice."

"Sasuke," she shook her head, "you wouldn't have made that decision if it weren't for the seal and what happened with your brother."

"Stop it, Sakura," he said angrily, wrenching away, "stop trying to defend my actions!"

"I'm _not_ defending your actions," she stated heatedly. "But you're not the only one who bears the burden of poor choices! You want to talk about bad decisions: I marched into an interrogation cell and stared a _sharingan_ user _straight in the eyes_ and threatened to kill him! That's not just stupid, Sasuke, it's suicidal. And it wasn't even a thought in my head!"

Sasuke stared. He had been so dumbstruck when she'd appeared in that moment, so shocked by her presence and her actions, it had not occurred to him either the gravity of what she had done. He couldn't tear his eyes from her.

"I've made nothing _but_ bad decisions where you're concerned. Do you have any idea how many times I've berated myself for keeping my mouth shut right before the third exam preliminaries?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No, _I_-"

"You bullied me into keeping my mouth shut Sasuke, but I _let_ you. I was more concerned about you being angry with me than about what was best for you."

"It wouldn't have made a difference," he argued.

"It probably wouldn't have, but that's not the point," Sakura retorted.

She inhaled a long deep breath, exhaling slowly, her steam suddenly gone. "That night…" she said softly, "that night I _knew_ you were going to leave. I'd even talked with Naruto, sharing my concerns with him." Sakura tched bitterly, "If I had any sense at all, I would have gone straight to Tsunade-sama with my suspicion, not even given you time to leave.

"I stupidly thought _I_ could change your mind. Like you had ever listened to anything I said before. When my imploring you to stay didn't work, I begged you to take me with you. I wanted to keep you from destroying yourself. Consequences never even occurred to me.

"And the only reason I haven't had to suffer the consequences of that night is _you_, Sasuke." Tears burned in her bright eyes. "You saved me from myself, but I couldn't save you. And that is the _only_ difference between us."

Sakura turned away to hide her tears. Sasuke tenderly reached under her chin with his fingertips, turning her toward him. "What you said that night… it meant something to me." Sakura's eyes searched his, filled with desperate hope. He continued softly, "I want you to know that."

She stared at him a moment before throwing her arms around him. Sasuke pulled her to him and held her close.

Long moments passed before she released him; reluctantly he let go of her. She took a deep, cleansing breath, once again lacing her fingers with his, and rotating the wrists. Sasuke studied her, impressed with how quickly she composed herself, and fascinated by her focused, determined expression.

He became acutely aware of her soft fingertips grazing the sensitive skin on the back of his hands. '_Amazing how she has such raw strength, how powerful and brutal she can be with those hands, and yet how incredibly soft they are._' Her touch was a pleasant sensation.

She untangled her fingers from his, leaving Sasuke with a mild but surprising sense of loss. "Do horse, tiger, bear, dragon," she ordered. Sasuke performed the seals easily, astounded. "Any pain?"

"No, none." He met her gaze, marveling at her skill, and her compassion. He glanced down to see tiny white lines running across and down his wrists. "You left the scars."

"You need them," she replied gently.

"I… thank you, Sakura," he said, his voice tight with emotion. "Truly, thank you."

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much to all my reviewers! You guys are the greatest! Please continue to leave love!

~Lily


	7. Walk Through the Fire

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

_

* * *

_

The sun had already set. A full moon rose in the night sky. Sakura had chosen to take the long route home, avoiding the evening bustle of the streets in favor of the quiet garden paths. The air was crisp and clear, filled with the soft scent of jasmine. She watched as an entourage of stars began to appear, paying tribute to their brilliant mistress.

The new moon, her face hidden in the dark, was a wishing moon, open to possibility and promise. But a full moon, that was a cleansing moon, the serene energy of which was used to clear away that which was no longer necessary: negativity, regret, and the burdens of an aching heart.

Sakura closed her eyes and lifted her face up, bathing in the healing glow of this beautiful full moon as she slowly made her way home.

It had been a night not unlike this one that a confrontation had taken place, one that had destroyed hopes, dreams, and lives…

But _this_ night was different.

A confrontation had again taken place, but this time it was filled with reconciliation and with hope. It offered peace.

She had never told anyone before what she had said to Sasuke that fateful night. No one had ever known how close she had come to ruining her life. It was only years after the fact that she was truly able to understand the ramifications of what she'd done.

But this night, in _this_ confrontation, Sakura was finally able to realize what she'd been so angry about for so long. In doing so, she was able to forgive herself.

* * *

The sun poured in through Sasuke's curtain-less windows. He rolled over, covering his head with a pillow in an effort to shut out its garish rays. He didn't want it to end, not just yet.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept so well. It was heaven. But the alarm sounded, forcing him out of his cocoon to face the day. He stretched without pain for the first time since the incident. He stared at his wrists, rotating them just to feel the lack of pain. '_Amazing._'

Karin had been a medic, sort of. Her special ability lay in the healing properties of her blood and chakra, which could repair damage done both by replenishing small amounts of chakra and healing various injuries and abrasions acquired in battle, but there was no skill involved. That's what had made her so useful. A quick bite rendered immediate results necessary for the advantage.

Sakura's talent was pure skill. Her methods were slower, but infinitely more precise. Karin would have stopped the blood flow, but she wouldn't have been able to repair the tendon/ligament damage as Sakura had.

He wondered briefly what had happened to Karin, after he'd nearly killed her. Sakura had taken her away, to tend her wounds to make her fit for interrogation; it was the last time he'd ever seen her. Perhaps he would ask.

Or perhaps that door was better left unopened.

Last night's catharsis had changed everything for him, both physically and mentally. He no longer felt like a hollow shell without reason to go on. The darkness had cleared somewhat, and he realized for the first time how much potential he had.

He glanced at the clock, realizing he didn't have time to ruminate on the finer aspects of last night's life changing experience. He was due to meet Genma in ten minutes.

* * *

The academy backyard was full of students and proud parents. Naruto stood, hands laced behind his back, a grin on his face. "So you've got to work really hard," he lectured to the graduating class.

"…As genin, you'll be taking on a lot of responsibility. The missions might seem boring, but it's only to prepare you for the hard stuff later. Listen to your jounin teachers. Learn from them. Do your best to protect your teammates, your important people, and your village. And most importantly, remember that I believe in each and every one of you. Congratulations!"

This was one of the things Naruto loved best about being Hokage. He could remember all the lectures he'd get from Sandaime when he was still a rascal, but he also fondly remembered how kind he was, how he would give time to even the smallest student, letting each and every member of the village know they had worth, and that he would protect them all.

He wanted to be that for this next generation. Someone they could look up to, admire, respect. He wanted to _inspire_. And he wanted each of them to know, just as Sandaime had done with him, that they were individually important to him.

Naruto spotted Sasuke leaning against the tree with a small smile on his face. He waved, letting Sasuke know he was trying to get to him, working through a throng of students, and parents, all wanting pictures, handshakes and hugs.

Finally Naruto was able to make it over. Sasuke smirked a genuine smirk. "I see motivational speaking is still one of your strong suits."

Naruto grinned. "One of the best parts of the job. So what brings you by?"

Sasuke turned serious. "I need your help with something."

* * *

Sasuke walked silently beside Naruto as he led him to the quiet mausoleum that was the Uchiha District. Sasuke could feel his gut clench as it came into view. Naruto watched him carefully as they approached. Sasuke turned to him. "I… I need to face this." He took a deep breath. "I need you. To face this."

Naruto's brilliant sapphire eyes locked with his in unspoken understanding; he nodded.

Sasuke took a long, deep breath. Together they walked side by side through the street. He scanned the abandoned ramshackle remains of the houses and shops that were once so full of life. His heart hurt to think of how different reality was from his perception as a child who had adored his family so much. He could see his aunts, smiling, yelling to sweet young Sasuke-chan, and asking about school as he made his way home, a favorite uncle who would always give him ice cream on Thursday afternoons after he finished training…

…His mother, how she looked as he would watch her from the table while she prepared supper for the family.

…His father, so stern, so distant, and yet how badly Sasuke strived to win his approval.

…His brother… God how he had adored brother. Itachi was Sasuke's inspiration, everything Sasuke aspired to be. It was Itachi he wanted to be with: to train with his genius brother and learn how to become more like him, to spend lazy afternoons reading books together, to sit on the porch with him eating rice balls as they watched the rain pour down. Those were the moments he remembered the most…

Those were the moments he hated the most…

…And upon learning the truth, they became the moments he cherished the most. How much his brother had loved him.

They approached the Uchiha temple. Sasuke stopped and turned to Naruto. "Could you wait here for me please? I'll only be a minute."

"Sure," Naruto replied. He glanced up to the jounin perched some distance away, Sasuke's current probationary tail, and shook his head, letting the ninja know the situation was in _his_ control.

Sasuke entered the building, pulling back the tatami mat to reach the secret lower level of the establishment. It was there that all the Uchiha clan secrets were kept. Itachi had told him of it, through the tsukiyomi, just after murdering the clan.

Madara had taken the most esteemed volumes on sharingan lore moments after the massacre, but a few were still left, and Sasuke knew how valuable they would be for what he had in mind. He pulled an Uchiha crest banner from the wall, laying it out on the floor. He grabbed the remaining scrolls and wrapped them into the banner, creating a pouch, which he tied into a knot and then carried out.

He was surprised to find Sakura standing beside Naruto when he reemerged.

Naruto smiled, "I thought you could use the extra support." Naruto glanced over his shoulder to one of the larger, lush green trees and smiled, but said nothing.

"Sasuke?" said Sakura. He turned to see her expression full of concern and compassion for him. He gave her a gentle nod, handing her the banner-pouch.

"Naruto-sama, may I have your permission to use a jutsu?"

Naruto's eyes locked with his in complete, utter understanding. "Do it."

Sasuke's hands flew through the seals, "Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu!"

And just like that, the Uchiha district went up in flames. Sasuke spun around, spreading his fire, ensuring no building was spared.

Naruto spotted several ninja running through the trees to his location. He merely put his hand up, halting them; he shook his head as a clear order not to interfere.

The three of them walked through the walls of flames to the district's main entrance, only then turning around to watch the destruction of the historic Uchiha shrine.

Kakashi dropped unnoticed from the tree he'd been perched in, unobtrusively slipping in to stand behind his three former students. On Sasuke's left, Naruto reached up and squeezed his shoulder; on his right, Sakura laced her fingers with his.

The four of them stood in silence watching Sasuke's past burn.

After half an hour, Kakashi stepped forward, performing seals for the double dragon water technique, putting out the last traces of fire. Only rubble, stone, and ash remained.

"It's done," Sasuke whispered. He felt Sakura's fingers tighten around his own.

"It's done," Naruto echoed, giving his shoulder a hard squeeze.

Sasuke finally lifted his eyes to Kakashi's exposed one. Kakashi, who had irritated him, lectured him, butted in where Sasuke felt he didn't belong; Kakashi who had implored him to rethink his situation and focus on the good he had in his life rather than the bad. Kakashi, who had more reason to be utterly disappointed in him than anyone.

Kakashi met Sasuke's gaze. "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you."

Sasuke turned to Sakura, took the pouch of scrolls from her and handed it to Naruto. "I need you to take these for me. They contain the secrets of Uchiha and the Sharingan."

Naruto took the makeshift bag. "I'll protect it no matter what."

Sasuke continued, "There's something I wish to discuss with you about it later, when the time is right." Naruto nodded.

Sasuke turned fully to face the three of them. Together again at last, the original Team Seven, his team. His most important people.

As the four of them stood amidst the ruins of what was once his family's home, Sasuke finally recognized how fortunate he was that he had _this_ family.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. You know the drill! ^__^ Thanks!

~Lily


	8. Adjustments

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

_

* * *

_

Two days had passed since Sasuke began working out his issues. Naruto stood atop the shinobi tower staring at the gaping scorched earth that used to be the Uchiha district. It was, in his opinion, a vast improvement.

Naruto had of course taken a great deal of heat on the matter. Apparently he was supposed to let his jounin know before the probationary-nin loosed a flame that incinerated twelve square village blocks.

It was ridiculous as far as he was concerned. He was present and able to take Sasuke on if that had become necessary. As for Sasuke getting down with his therapy-seeking self, Naruto was in full support. And jeez, it's not like the Uchiha had burnt down any functioning parts of the village anyway. Place was a friggin mausoleum.

"Hokage-sama, you wished to see me?"

Naruto turned to face the shinobi he'd been waiting for. "Raidou. You will meet Uchiha Sasuke for his check-ins at the appointed times. You will _not_ make him run his ass off trying to hunt you down. Do I make myself clear?"

Raidou looked put-off, but nodded, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Dismissed."

Naruto looked at the Hokage mountain, to his father's image. He sighed, '_Sakura-chan will be back tonight…_' He'd sent Sakura's ANBU unit on a brief mission to retrieve an important correspondence from the Kazekage that had been intercepted by enemy ninja, but of course there were other reasons as well.

Naruto had to admit he was surprised at how quickly Sakura's attitude toward Sasuke had changed, not that he was displeased by it. In fact it was why he sought her out to join him as Sasuke confronted his past.

But Sakura's feelings had always been complicated when it came to Sasuke, and Naruto was going to make damn sure she got room to breathe whether she wanted it or not.

Naruto headed down the stairs to his personal apartments in the tower, pulling his shirt off. A shower was needed. He stared into the mirror, keen blue eyes reflecting and penetrating his own. So much had changed in such a minute period of time, he felt in certain moments like everything was moving around him and beneath him so fast that if he couldn't grab on to something he'd just float away. How desperately he had missed Sasuke.

He sighed, thoughts swirling in his head. He couldn't believe how close he'd come to killing him. It wasn't until the end, as Naruto was about to deliver the final blow that he saw it, the look in Sasuke's eyes that made him realize the Uchiha was lying. '_I almost…_'

But he hadn't. And now look at how far Sasuke had come in the short time he'd been back. He knew his faith in Sasuke was well founded.

"Where are you?" a soft feminine voice asked softly.

Naruto looked into the mirror to see Hinata's smiling face. He turned to her and kissed her gently. "Lost in thought." He pulled her his arms. "Guess that's been happening a lot lately. Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for." Hinata leaned into him, lifting her arm to run her fingers through his hair. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

He smiled. "I am. I am okay. I'm good."

It was as though everything was finally falling into place the way it always should have.

Naruto sighed, whispering into the shell of her ear, "You know how I feel about you, Hinata-chan."

Hinata had never been jealous or insecure, and especially not after Naruto had professed his feelings for her. She knew that Sakura would always be his number one, but she also knew how important she was to him and she was very secure in that. She smiled, "Show me."

Naruto scooped her up, taking her to the bedroom.

* * *

"Well?"

Kakashi's visible eye stared out lazily at the Uchiha waiting for a response.

Sasuke wanted to spar more than anything, but wasn't quite sure if Kakashi being both chaperone and opponent was in some way violating the rules. '_Meh, far be it from me to question the judgment of an elder._' He nodded.

They each took their stances and began battle, full force. Sasuke thrived on the physical exercise, able to enjoy simple taijutsu combat in a way he hadn't in a very long time. Kakashi himself was a formidable opponent, fast and able. He was an absolute genius ninja if ever there was one.

Hell, truly it was Kakashi who taught Sasuke how to use his sharingan and gain the speed he now had. Amazing how he'd forgotten how appreciated his initial training with his genin sensei had been.

After a solid half hour, Kakashi stopped, covering his eye. "I'm spent," he said lazily, "Good workout. You don't suck."

Sasuke gave him a scathing look, "Thanks."

Kakashi grimaced; it was so slight Sasuke would've missed it if he weren't looking directly at him. "So then, your next check-in is with Naruto in six hours. Later."

Poof. Kakashi vanished.

Sasuke stretched, feeling it from the tips of his fingers to the tips of his toes. How good it felt just to be.

He made his way home, looking forward to getting his living quarters painted finally. He'd mentioned it to Naruto the day before when they were out at dinner, and the physical activity of a good spar was just what he needed to get him motivated to finish the task.

Gradually, he became aware of all the stares in his direction. He saw several people talking in hushed whispers as he passed by.

Finally someone had the guts to shout, "Is it true that you burned down the Uchiha district?"

'_So that's what this is all about,_' Sasuke realized. The rumor mill had started and everyone was just burning with curiosity. Sasuke stared thoughtfully at the man who'd shouted; he cowered just slightly. "Yes," Sasuke replied, "I did."

"O-oh."

Sasuke continued on his way, choosing to ignore the points, whispers and outright stares. '_Another day being back in Konoha._'

He jumped up the three flights of stairs, pulled out his key and opened the door. His jaw dropped.

He should have expected to find his apartment fully painted, and furnished with a rather questionable taste in art, but he hadn't. '_Naruto._' He looked around, appreciating the new light fixtures and bamboo bookshelf; he rounded the corner into the kitchen and then he saw _it_: a humongous oil painting of a bowl of ramen. Sasuke's head dropped in sigh. He began to laugh, looking up at the hideous piece of art, if it could even be called that, and laughed hysterically, "Bastard." It took him several moments to recover himself.

* * *

Clouds started to gather in the late afternoon skies above them. The scent of rain was in the air. As they walked the long road back to the village, Neji seized his first opportunity to talk with Sakura. "How are you doing?"

"I'm ready to go home and stay there for a while." The edge in her tone was not lost on the Hyuuga. "You know, this mission could easily have been handled by a chuunin team."

"I think Naruto-sama wanted to give you some breathing room."

"Whether or not I need breathing room is _my_ decision, not his."

"Sakura," Neji said carefully, "may I ask you a personal question?"

She looked at him thoughtfully. Theirs had always been a relationship of understanding. Neither of them asked questions, only ever listened should one or the other feel the need to bring something up. After a moment, she replied, "Yes."

"What are your feelings for him?"

The question immediately put Sakura on edge. This was ground she definitely didn't want to tread on. "What are my feelings for whom?" she asked testily.

Neji gave her a pointed look.

"It's complicated, okay? Sasuke… he was our teammate, someone who was, and is, very dear and important to us-"

A light mist enveloped them as they continued on, the rain now imminent.

"I didn't ask about you-and-Naruto. I asked about _you_."

That only further rankled Sakura. "He's home. I'm glad. We've wanted this for years, and he's making a genuine effort to atone for his crimes. Hell, he burned down the entire Uchiha district! I think that counts for something!"

"You're diverting."

Sakura stopped in her tracks, turning toward him. "Neji, the reason our friendship works is because we don't push each other on matters we don't care to discuss. So _stop_."

Neji stared her down. "Don't give more of yourself than you can, or should. Know your boundaries, and don't ignore them to benefit someone who may not have _your_ best interests in mind."

He gave her one last pointed look before bounding ahead to catch up to the rest of the unit. The heavens finally loosed its downpour. Sakura sighed, '_He sees everything… sometimes I really wish he didn't._'

* * *

The sky darkened as it poured, a horizontal rain that battered the windows. Inside his office, Naruto sat on his large desk facing Sasuke on the sofa, nodding. "I think it's an excellent idea, Sasuke. But are you sure, absolutely sure, that you want to give up information like this?"

Sasuke nodded determinedly. "Without a doubt."

A knock at the door interrupted them. "It's open," Naruto said, not bothering to get up.

Sakura walked in, soaked through, holding a scroll out to him. "Neji entrusted me to get this to you. He wanted to catch Tenten before she headed out on her mission tonight."

She walked into the side room and closed the door.

Naruto opened the scroll and read it. "Dipshits." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Idiots intercepted a letter for me from Gaara. Really hard core secrets of state, let me tell you," Naruto rolled his eyes. "It's about the wedding."

"Wedding?"

Sakura reappeared in oversized jounin pants and a bright orange shirt. "Shikamaru's marrying the Kazekage's sister, Temari of Sand," she explained as she rubbed her hair with a towel, giving Naruto a dirty look, "So you sent us out to retrieve an intercepted letter about wedding details?"

"Well, there's another scroll I'm waiting for as well, so I wasn't sure which one was intercepted. Clearly it was not the important one, further demonstrating the complete incompetence of these morons."

She looked less than pleased. "Is Kakashi around?" she asked as she tossed the wet towel to the floor and shook her head, letting her pink tresses fly. She ran her fingers through her hair. "I need to see him tonight."

Sasuke took in the sight of her; he had to admit the orange of Naruto's borrowed shirt clashed spectacularly with her pink tresses. He'd never seen her look so utterly awful before, and she didn't even seem to care. Interesting.

"He's downstairs, but first there's something I want to talk to you about. Sasuke had kind of a great idea that I think you'll be excited about."

"Oh?" she glanced at Sasuke for the first time as she took a seat next to him.

Naruto looked to Sasuke who turned to Sakura. He began, "Kakashi is having problems with his sharingan. I know because I have problems with mine with prolonged use. There are times I can't see for days after using it."

"It's not just progressing blindness, Sasuke," she stated, "it's constant chakra drain. He gets migraines almost daily which impede his routine activities."

He watched her closely as he continued, "I'm a _natural_ sharingan user, Sakura. If you study the chakra pathways of a natural user, you might be able to identify the discrepancies in Kakashi's, what's causing the constant drain, and his pain, and find a way to fix it."

Sakura was floored. "Sasuke…"

"Admittedly I would also benefit from this, assuming you might perchance find a way of undoing the damage caused by doujutsu usage, but I want you to know up front that that is not my reason for asking you to do this."

Sakura stared at him. "Sasuke… this is… I can't make any promises here."

"I understand that. Which is why this stays between the three of us until we can ascertain whether or not this endeavor might be successful."

"Sasuke… are you sure you're willing to give up the secrets of your clan's kekkei-genkai?"

Sasuke's expression hardened, looking to both Naruto and Sakura. "There is no clan. There is only me. And I'm in a unique position to be of assistance to someone very important to this village… and to me. I want to do this, Sakura. I want you to use me to find a way to help Kakashi."

Sakura nodded, "We'll start tomorrow."

* * *

A/N: I appreciate all the reviews from everyone! Thank you so much! As always, please leave feedback!

~Lily


	9. Getting Started

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

_

* * *

_

Ino sat atop a wall, staring into the distance, a kunai dangling from her fingertips.

A few feet away stood an easel, propping up the canvas upon which Sai painted. Kiba stood, hovering over his shoulder. "No, no, no," Kiba shook his head at Sai, "you've got it all wrong."

Sai gave him a dirty look. "It's correct."

"No," Kiba said, walking over to Ino and pointing to her chest, "it's not."

"Kiba!" Ino shouted affronted. "I'm sure however you're doing it is fine, Sai. _I_ trust you."

Kiba's keen eyes scanned the area for a second opinion. He reached out in a flash and grabbed the first person he saw, dragging him with lightning speed to the canvas. "Does that look like her or not?"

"…"

Ino's eyes widened in horror at the sight of Uchiha Sasuke literally plunked between the two bickering men.

Sasuke had, only moments ago, been minding his own business, ignoring the stares and whispers of the villagers as he made his way home from the grocers.

The bags had been dropped but not spilled. Little half-moons of blood appeared on Sasuke's hands where he'd balled them tightly together in an effort to fight his ninja reflexes. He took several deep breaths to calm his racing pulse.

"O-oh! Sasuke!" Kiba stammered, wide-eyed. "I'm really sorry about that! I… I wasn't expecting you."

"How are you, Sasuke?" asked Sai, turning to him. He ignored Sasuke's stunned blank expression. "Perhaps you can settle a disagreement for us. The fact that you're a doujutsu user will be particularly beneficial given the nature of the dispute."

"Sai, don't you dare!" Ino shouted, jumping down off the wall.

"Have I properly captured the size, shape and dimension of Ino's breasts, or do I need to rework them?"

All color drained from Ino's face. "You. Will. Die."

Now that he had calmed somewhat, Sasuke gauged the situation. He was keenly aware of Hyuuga Neji perched atop a tree several yards away; Rock Lee was up the street a ways, and Aoba, his official tail, currently henged as a little girl.

'_Everyone wants to see whether or not I'm sincere about rejoining the village,_' Sasuke thought silently, '_so now's as good a time as any to show them._'

"I think Kiba should stick to his sense of smell," Sasuke said blandly, "because his eyes are clearly not his strong suit."

Kiba's eyes narrowed into slits. Ino's widened. "Did you just… did he just… was that a joke?"

Sasuke continued, "It's nice to see the more artistic side of your talents Sai. I do have to ask you: has the Hokage commissioned you to paint anything in particular lately?"

Kiba stood in utter shock, staring at the Uchiha. Ino nodded to herself, muttering, "It _was_ a joke. _He_ made a joke."

"No," said Sai.

"Ah," Sasuke replied, "just thought I'd ask."

Kiba had finally managed to recover himself. "So you're really serious about this whole thing then? Being back and not homicidal and all."

"Well I did just burn down an eighth of the village, so I guess that depends on your definitions."

"That was another one," Ino stated, a small smile graduating into a grin.

"Look, you know that basically everybody hates you, right?" Kiba said blatantly.

"Hn."

"Well, the only way you're going to fix that is if you start coming out with and being one of us. The whole hiding thing's gotta stop. It's like diving into cold water," Kiba replied evenly, "the only way to do it is head first into the deep end."

"I concur," Sai stated, "for the record."

"Sasuke-san!" Lee said, giving him a wide smile, "I haven't seen you since you've returned! The fire jutsu you used to burn down the Uchiha District was quite impressive. Once again, I must admit that I am in awe of the skills of a genius!"

Sasuke looked around as though searching for the origin of a genjutsu. The whole situation was getting way too surreal for him.

"I was just telling Sasuke here he needs to join us for drinks," Kiba said to Lee.

Ino stepped forward, lighting tapping Sasuke's forearm, "I think you should. It'd be good for you… for everyone."

That was the bizarre thing about Leaf-nin. They were always so… welcoming? Open? Forgetful? '_Forgiving??_'

"Alright," said Sasuke cautiously.

"We go out on Fridays, so..." Kiba smacked him on the shoulder. Sasuke was mildly surprised by how much it hurt. "…We'll see you then."

"Right," Sasuke replied, picking up the bag of groceries he'd dropped. He headed off.

Sai hollered after him, "Thank you for settling the dispute!"

That was just about one of the oddest situations Sasuke had ever encountered, and that was saying something.

It wasn't that he was avoiding any of them; he just didn't want to rush things. He knew his presence in the village was bound to cause some upset, especially given the fact that he was directly or indirectly responsible for everything from injuring to nearly killing several leaf-ninja.

Still, it was a bit of a surprise to be asked out with who Sasuke assumed would be the rookie nine, plus a few. '_Are they really all that forgiving?_' he wondered. He honestly couldn't answer if he would be, were he them. Naruto, Sakura, even Kakashi, he got. They were his team, his core. But everyone else… he just hadn't been expecting it.

'_It _is_ a pleasant surprise though. Naruto said it would be hard work, but if they're willing to take a step to even open the door, then I had damn well better go through it._'

Sasuke entered his apartment, smiling upon entering for the first time in his short residency. The blue and taupe really did go quite well in there, creating a serene, peaceful space for Sasuke's thoughts. Except that damn painting on the kitchen wall that Naruto must've used a jutsu to place because nothing Sasuke did could remove it.

Secretly though, '_I must admit… it's growing on me._'

Sakura was due to arrive in fifteen minutes or so. That gave Sasuke plenty of time to make lunch for the two of them. It had been years since Sasuke had cooked for himself, and as he prepared the small kitchen to start some teriyaki beef and peppers, he realized how much he'd missed it. There was something to be said about a good home-cooked meal rather than what could be picked up along the way on a rigorous training schedule followed by a rigorous vengeance schedule.

Cooking, at least on some occasions, was something Sasuke enjoyed. Of course now that Sakura had fixed the tendons in his arms, it was an enjoyment he could partake in.

He had just thrown the peppers into the skillet when he heard a knock at the door. "It's open."

Sakura stepped in and looked around, dropping her satchel to the floor and removing her shoes. "It looks nice."

"I think Naruto-sama did it. Or he broke in and forced some genin to do it."

"Likely the latter. A class just graduated and I'm sure they needed some missions."

"Does that mean I'm going to have to pay for it?" Sasuke asked, casting a small smile in her direction. He stirred the contents of the skillet. "I'm making us lunch."

"Oh," Sakura frowned, "I just ate." Sasuke shrugged, hiding his disappointment. Sakura caught his expression and said, "But I'll have some anyway. I never say no to good food."

Sasuke smiled. "Do you like to cook?"

"Hell no!" Sakura laughed. "My mom and Ino keep me rolling in homemade goodies when I'm home. My mother's always worried I'm not eating well, and well Ino, Ino just knows I can't cook for shit. And when on missions, you take what you can get."

Sakura rounded the corner to take a seat at the tiny table. Her eyes widened. "What _is_ tha- …Naruto."

"Hn. I'm starting to realize the hokage doesn't do anything half-assed."

"He's really outdone himself," she laughed, shaking her head. "Gonna keep it up?"

Sasuke smirked, "Yeah, I think I am." He poured the contents of the skillet onto two plates full of rice and set them down in front of Sakura. "Juice?"

"Please."

"So you're ANBU?"

"I am." He set down two glasses of juice. They picked up their chopsticks and began eating.

"Tell me about it."

"It's ANBU. There's not much to tell. Neji is my squad leader. We work with three other really great guys. We do what we're told… I don't know. ANBU stuff."

"That's a really detailed description," he smirked sarcastically. "Do you enjoy it?"

"Yes. I love my work and the team I work with. Neji is one of Naruto-sama's guards as well, and as I'm a head medic, Shizune and I need to trade off away missions to ensure there's always a senior medic in the village. So scheduling gets a bit crazy sometimes, for good or bad. Getting out of the village for a bit this last time was nice. It helps clear your head, and forces you to hone other skills you wouldn't necessarily utilize were you not constantly on the fringes of enemy territory. Keeps you sharp."

"So you're feeling sharp then, I take it?" Sasuke smirked.

"Oh I'm lethal, I'm so sharp," she laughed, setting the empty plate aside. "So you want to get started on this?"

He nodded. They settled onto the bed. Sakura placed her fingertips at Sasuke's temples, letting her chakra flow into him. The width of the pathways alone was enormous. The amount of chakra he would channel into his eyes was staggering.

Sakura paused, "Talk to me. I'll give you instructions as needed, but otherwise, just talk, relax and let me do my thing. So this is your normal state, yes?" Sasuke nodded. "Are you in any pain?"

"No."

"Okay then. Go."

"Um…" Sasuke stammered, unsure of what to say. Her chakra probing the delicate pathways around his eyes was rather a strange sensation, not painful, but he was acutely aware of it. He brought up the first thing that came to mind. "I've heard you and Hyuuga are pretty close."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Neji and I are just friends, very good friends in point of fact seeing as he's been my teammate and my superior for several years now. Activate your sharingan."

Sasuke's ink black eyes turned blood red with three tomoe. Sakura could feel the surge of chakra, sending a sharp tingle through her fingertips. "Wow… now switch back."

Red faded back into black. "One more time," she instructed. Sasuke obliged. "That's incredible… How long can you sustain it before feeling the effects of chakra drain?"

"It depends on what form," replied Sasuke. "There are several different forms of sharingan, each using different amounts of chakra and causing different stresses on the body. The more advanced forms can only be sustained for short periods of time.

"I've also found that my normal vision deteriorates significantly after each use."

Sakura asked quietly, "Is the damage irreparable?"

"If it goes untreated. I've found that if I allow long periods of rest immediately after, it curbs how bad the vision distortion is, but I'm sure I would need a medic in order to reverse the long-term effects. If reversal is even possible."

"Well then that's one of the things we'll be finding out together, isn't it?"

Sasuke stared into her deep green eyes. He persisted, "How good of friends?"

"Sasuke, you are the last person I'd expect to hear gossip mongering from," Sakura teased. "Activate it one more time."

"I'm not gossiping," he mumbled, as he obliged, "You said talk to you. I'm talking. I asked a question."

"Geez, okay, don't get your shorts twisted into knots. Turn it off."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, doing as he was told. He'd never arbitrarily turned his kekkei-genkai on and off repeatedly before. It was interesting to see the variations of its focus on something outside of battle, which enabled him to relax and notice its nuances.

"Close. But it's ridiculous that people think we got involved. He's planning on proposing to Tenten as soon as she returns from this mission. Activate," she said. Sasuke noted how she went from focus to a crystal clear focus. He could see every single shade of green comprising the color of her eyes.

"Okay, switch to normal," ordered Sakura. "I think we've done enough for today. I don't want to over tax myself, nor do I want to cause you any distress until I have a better understanding of how to fix it."

Sasuke nodded. Sakura pulled away, stretching like a cat. She got up, went to her satchel and pulled out a black notebook before coming back to the bed, sitting down and writing furiously.

"What are you-"

"Notes."

He watched as her hair fell into her face. She absent-mindedly brushed it aside, tucking it behind her ear. It fell again. He began to reach out to… She pulled a hair tie out of her ninja pouch, wrapping her pink tresses into a messy knot.

He sighed. "Sakura, the other day, why did you-"

"Naruto came and got me," she replied, "more specifically one of his bunshin did. I'm sure he knew you could use all the support you could get."

"I didn't ask how, I asked _why_," Sasuke said quietly.

"Because we're a team, Sasuke," she stated, her eyes meeting his.

"It's that simple?" he retorted.

"It _is_ that simple."

She closed the notebook and set it to the side. "What made you decide to do this? Burning down your family's estate, and now letting me examine your doujutsu?"

"Everything that Uchiha represents now is tainted. Do you know the history?"

"Somewhat," she admitted. "Bits and pieces we discovered throughout our battles with Akatsuki members, but I did a lot of research on my own. What I found was… disturbing."

"So you know that my clan, my father and the other elders of the clan, were planning an insurrection against Konoha, that my brother killed the clan in order to protect the village from my corrupt family…

"How messed up is that, Sakura? How unbelievably messed up is that?"

Sakura could see the immense amount of pain in Sasuke's eyes; her heart ached for him.

"The corruption of my clan goes all the way back to the inception of the village, Sakura. Everything they were, everything they stood for, should be eradicated. Not one single good thing has ever come out of the name Uchiha."

Sakura reached her hand out to his; his eyes met hers. "Sasuke… think of the position you're in to change that! You are the only Uchiha left. _You_ decide what Uchiha is, what it becomes. Nothing is gained by dwelling in the sins of the past. _Let it go._ The slate is clean Sasuke. Make Uchiha what _you_ want it to be."

Sasuke stared in wonder at Sakura. She so easily put into perspective what he himself never conceived of. He felt the warmth of her hand in his. "Do you mean that Sakura?"

"That you have an opportunity to take control of your life and make it what you wish it to be, to create ideals to uphold and a code to live by? Yes. I do mean that."

"No," Sasuke said softly, his eyes locked with hers, "is the slate clean between us?"

"Yes," she said definitively. "_Yes_."

Before Sasuke even knew what he was doing, he leaned forward and kissed her. It was soft, sweet. Then he pulled away.

"Thank you, Sakura."

* * *

A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers! Please continue to leave feedback!

~Lily


	10. Thoughts and Actions

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

_

* * *

_

Sakura blinked, stunned. Thoughts were not a possibility at the moment; tried as she might, she could not wrap her mind around a single one. She stared, gaping at him as she struggled for words, "Sasuke, you can't— it's not okay to just— you… you kissed me."

She paused, the gravity of the realization sinking in. Emotions encapsulated her in a blurry haze. The young girl in her cried out in joy and pain: Sasuke had been her first crush, the boy she'd first dreamed of sharing her first kiss with, her first everything with.

But Sasuke wasn't that man. Her first date, her first kiss, her first time, those now belonged to other men. She could never take back those firsts to give to him, and after everything, it just-

She took a deep breath. The woman in her, the jounin medic that she was, recognized the situation for what it was.

"Sasuke," she started, punctuating the creation of emotional distance by pulling away literally, "you've been dealing with a lot lately. Being brought back, arguably against your will, probation, incinerating your family's homestead… the list goes on-"

"Sakura-"

"You're vulnerable right now Sasuke," she interrupted as she got up, headed to the door, and shoved her notebook into her satchel, "and being vulnerable, you shouldn't do anything that you might regret."

Frustrated, Sasuke started, "Sakura, I-"

She slipped her shoes on. "I should go."

"Wait."

She slung the bag over her shoulder and opened the door. With lightning speed, Sasuke shot across the room, closing the door before she could pass through it.

"Sasuke…" her voice cracked, her aloof demeanor rapidly crumbling. '_Why can't he see that this hurts?_' She took a deep breath, trying desperately to compose herself, "Look, I have an obligation tonight that I can't get out of, so I have to go. We'll continue tomorrow, okay?" She plastered a bright smile on her face.

"Not okay," he replied softly, closing the distance between them once more.

Sakura finally lost her composure and pushed him away, shouting, "You can't just kiss me like it's nothing and say, 'Thank you, Sakura!' Do you remember the last time you said that to me?"

"The night you fixed my wrists," he replied calmly.

Sakura shook her head in frustrated anger, snapping, "The time before that then, Sasuke!"

He moved so quickly she didn't see him until his arms were wrapped firmly around her. Sakura struggled against him, but her arms were pinned at her sides; she had no leverage. He whispered against her ear, "I told you already, that night, what you said meant something to me. And this, what just happened…"

The tortured expression on Sakura's face, her green eyes brimming with tears, caused him to hesitate.

She seized the moment and pulled away, brushing away her tears with a swipe of her finger. "Like I said, Sasuke, you're vulnerable right now, and shouldn't be doing anything rashly."

She pushed past him to the door; he didn't stop her. "I have a rotation at the hospital tomorrow morning; you can meet me there in the afternoon and we'll continue."

Sasuke took her meaning clearly, nodding in resignation. "Alright."

She walked out. He sighed.

* * *

Night had fallen, the stars twinkling brightly in the sky above. Sasuke had just completed his check-in with Genma and continued on a long walk. Finding an open glade with little light pollution, he lay down in the grass, staring up into the starry heavens.

He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out what had compelled him to kiss her. Not once had he ever done anything, outside of battle, compulsively. He didn't know why he'd done it; all that mattered was that he had, and that Sakura was obviously upset about it.

Which was another thing he didn't understand. Wasn't that what Sakura had always wanted?

"You bastard."

Sasuke turned his head in the direction of the voice he knew so well. Naruto stood there, clearly visible despite the dim light. He could see Naruto's blue eyes, which seemed to narrow and flicker red for an instant; Sasuke blinked and refocused; no, they were blue.

He didn't need to ask what it was about. "I know," he replied simply, shifting his gaze back to the sky.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto persisted.

Sasuke sat up and faced him. "I'm a bastard, as you just aptly stated."

"You're a bloody disaster is what you are," the blond retorted, plopping into the grass beside him.

"You're not wrong," Sasuke sighed.

Naruto turned to him and said, "You've been in the habit of doing one stupid thing after another as long as I've known you." Sasuke gave him a scathing look. "Well it's true. I thought maybe you were gonna turn that around when you burned Uchiha-ville to the ground, but clearly old habits die hard."

"I'm not in the mood for a lecture, Naruto-_sama_."

"Right now I'm not the Hokage, I'm your friend, and as such, I'm obligated to lecture you on being an ass."

Sasuke turned to look at him squarely, "Has it occurred to you that perhaps I don't need you to reiterate a fact that I'm already well aware of?"

"You don't know what I'm talking about."

"I know exactly what you're talking about," Sasuke countermanded, "and it's none of your business."

Sasuke's head exploded in pain as Naruto's fist hit its target. "What the fuck, Naruto?"

Naruto got up onto his knees, facing Sasuke. "Violence has always been the only way we can ever seem to communicate. So let's have at it. You've got issues; I'm your guy. Let's do it."

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "In case you've forgotten _Hokage-sama_, I'm not allowed to spar without the supervision of a chaperone, which we seem to be lacking."

"Or _you_ could remember that I _am_ the hokage, and I can do both at the same time," Naruto replied with a smug grin.

Sasuke's fingers curled into fists. That shit-eating grin was the last straw. He struck with lightning speed, missing Naruto by a fraction of a hair. The two went at it, punching, kicking, literally heaving each other off the ground, into trees, pummeling one another senseless.

Naruto landed hard against a tree, causing a fissure from the point of impact all the way down to its base. "Is that the best you can do, teme? Pretty sad."

"Fuck you," Sasuke shouted, launching himself into aerial attack position. Naruto slid out, avoiding the blow by a second. He kage bunshined, grabbing Sasuke with the clone, then slipping behind him and kicking him literally in the ass, sending him skyward. With the bunshin, he grabbed Sasuke mid-air, holding him tightly as he landed softly on the ground, preventing the Uchiha from landing on his bruised and battered behind.

"Feel better now that you got your ass kicked?"

Sasuke returned a scathing look. He'd thought initially that this was Naruto's version of therapy; he was under the impression that Naruto would hold back and let Sasuke land a few to get out his frustration; he was rather surprised Naruto hadn't. And yeah, his ass hurt like a bitch.

"You know," Naruto said conversationally, sitting back down in the grass as though nothing had happened, "using me as your method of suicide was pretty fucked up."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"I'm actually pretty pissed about it to be honest. You could have found a hundred different ways that wouldn't have resulted in me hating myself the rest of my life."

"I wanted it to be justice for you," Sasuke said quietly, "and penance for me."

"Penance means repenting, and doing the hard work that goes along with it. You know, Sasuke, you've always taken the easy way out."

Sasuke glared angrily at Naruto, "You deserved justice for all the shit I've put you through. Fuck, Naruto, how many times have I damn near killed you?"

"Tried to, teme, tried to. Not once did you succeed, and no, it's not because you held back at the last possible second; it's because I'm that good. And I can read you like an open book.

"You forget Sasuke that I know you better than anyone. I know when you're full of shit, which is most of the time, granted, but you were an absolute idiot to think I'd fall for that line of bull you fed me when we fought. All you have are distorted facts of the truth, but do you know, do you truly know the truth about what happened with Itachi and your clan?"

Sasuke sighed. "More than I ever cared to know, Naruto," he said quietly. "That's why I burned it, to wipe it from the face of the village. I'm wiping the slate clean, taking Sakura up on her advice that I redefine Uchiha."

Naruto grasped Sasuke's shoulders, looking his square in the face. "You can't do that until you know the truth, the real truth, behind your brother's sacrifice."

Sasuke's eyes were locked on Naruto's, his breath baited, "What truth?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"The truth that your brother loved you more than anything, but that he couldn't allow even you to destroy what he'd worked so hard to protect. He loved this village, more than his own clan, but not more than you. He couldn't give you up Sasuke. He made you hate him in order for you to become strong. He wanted you to become the hero of his tragic tale."

Sasuke scowled, "You're not telling me anything I don't know."

"That time we met, your brother talked to me through tsukiyomi, told me that if you ever became a true threat to the village he sacrificed so much to protect, he asked if I would have the guts to bring you down. I said I would. Not even for you Sasuke, would I sacrifice the village. So Itachi imbibed part of his power in me, so that should that day come, and I needed to draw upon it, I could.

"More importantly, he asked me to become your brother in his place. To love you like a brother, no matter what it took."

The information hit Sasuke as hard as one of Naruto's punches.

"It wasn't asking much, because it was the way I always felt. I would never give up hope on you Sasuke, and now that you finally know that, now that you finally see how much I value and love you," he said, tears burning in his eyes, "all I can feel is happiness that I have my brother back."

Sasuke stared at Naruto, speechless.

He continued, "You've been manipulated your whole life. Your brother manipulated you by doing what he did to you, and regardless of his motives, it was fucked up and cruel and wrong. Orochimaru played on your rage for your brother, manipulating you in order to get what he wanted. Didn't work out so hot for him, but that's beside the point.

"You have your all-out battle with your brother, which you were manipulated into by him, in order to exact the revenge that Itachi had already staged. Then just as that grand manipulation is over, Madara turns you into his bitch; he uses the truth of your brother's sacrifice as a way to manipulate your emotions, inciting you to react the way he wanted you to."

Sasuke rankled at what Naruto said. It was hitting way to close to home and he didn't want to hear any more of it.

"Here Sasuke, now, is the first time in your entire life where no one is manipulating you. No one is using your volatile, intense emotions against you. You are free to make your own choices.

"But with that freedom comes responsibility," Naruto continued, his tone gentler. "You can't afford to act without thinking now. Even well intentioned actions, if not thought through clearly, can hurt others."

Sasuke processed Naruto's words. He was right. Sasuke hadn't thought about kissing Sakura, it was spur of the moment. She was there, so close, so _understanding_ of everything he was, and everything he wanted to accomplish, he just… kissed her.

But he'd forgotten that Sakura once had feelings for him, beyond that of love of teammate and friend; it had never occurred to him that perhaps her feelings for him were still there. She'd certainly given him no inclination that there were, but…

"Just be careful," Naruto gently warned, his meaning clear.

Sasuke absorbed everything. He nodded.

Naruto yawned. "Well, glad we got that all settled. I'm heading to bed."

Naruto vanished with a poof, leaving Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

He hadn't taken the possibility of Sakura's feelings into consideration. He enjoyed being with her. She was comforting, soothing, and he trusted her. She was right; he was vulnerable right now, but he trusted her with his vulnerability, something he had never entrusted to anyone before.

But he needed to be clear on his own feelings where she was concerned. If she did still have feelings for him, however vulnerable and needing of her he might be, it would be unfair for him to take advantage of her in that fashion. '_Tomorrow, I'll set things straight, __establish boundaries in our relationship so I don't risk hurting her… or losing her._' Losing her… that was a thought he couldn't bear.

* * *

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this little segway chapter. More to come shortly. As always, thanks to my reviewers. Please keep them coming!

~Lily


	11. Busy

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

* * *

Sakura was tired. She'd been on duty at the hospital since 0700, and it had been one thing after another in non-stop chaos ever since.

Two members of an ANBU squad just returned from the border with serious injuries that she and Shizune spent the better part of the morning stabilizing. The fact that one of them was Izumo made it that much more difficult.

Not half an hour later, a young genin was brought in by a frantic jounin-sensei that had set off an exploding seal trap that burned a significant portion of his body. It was another two hours to repair the worst of the wounds and dress the remainder.

It was just shy of two o'clock when Sakura dragged herself up to her office to sit. She opened her desk drawer, removed a jar full of ginkgo biloba capsules and swallowed two, returning the jar to its proper place. Twenty minutes and her headache would likely be gone. In the meantime, she lay her forehead down on her desk, letting the cool maple sooth her aching head.

A knock at the door interrupted her. "Sakura-san?"

Sakura looked up to see Yumi, one of the hospital nurses. '_I can't get even one minute to myself…_'

"Yes?" she asked wearily.

"I'm sorry to trouble you. Uchiha Sasuke is here to see you. He said you have an appointment. He's in the waiting area."

Sakura groaned inwardly. "Tell him I'll be with him shortly."

She rested her head back on her desk for several long minutes before sighing and rising. On her way to the waiting room, she stopped in to check on Izumo. He was sound asleep, but his vitals were strong. Sakura sighed in relief.

When she reentered the hall, she found another genin covered in bandages. "Sakura-sensei, is Gitou going to be okay?"

Despite her exhaustion, she smiled, "Yes, he's going to be just fine. Why don't you go home and get some rest right now; you can come by to see him later."

"O-okay," he said shyly, "thank you, Sakura-sensei, for saving him."

The little genin took off before she could reply 'you're welcome.'

She made her way to the waiting area to find Sasuke browsing through a medical journal as he waited. Sensing her presence, he tossed the journal aside and stood. "You look tired."

"Long morning."

Sasuke studied her closely, noting the dark circles under her eyes and her pale pallor. "Let's reschedule. You should get some rest."

"I know my limits, Sasuke," she snapped. Sasuke's eyebrow raised. Sakura sighed, "I'm sorry. Perhaps you're right. I'm just exhausted."

"Have you eaten?" Sakura shook her head. "Let's get you some food."

Sakura looked as though she might protest for a moment, but relented. "Okay."

They approached Ichiraku's. Sakura smiled, teasing, "So that painting of Naruto's has really gotten to you, huh?"

Sasuke smirked. "I guess so, something like that. Ramen's okay, right? Or would you prefer something else?"

"Ramen is fine."

They sat at the bar and placed their orders with Teuchi-san. Sasuke turned to her. "About last night-"

"Nothing to discuss," Sakura replied evenly, "no worries."

Sasuke continued, "I just want to make sure nothing is... Look, I don't want to hurt you. And I don't want to do anything that might impede what we're trying to do."

"Sasuke, nothing to worry about," she replied, a little more testily than she'd meant to. "Anyway," she continued, "we can work for about two hours, and then I have to meet Kakashi. He was out yesterday, so he's going to need a session."

"How bad is he really?"

Teuchi-san set down their bowls of ramen with a smile, then turned around to continue bustling about the kitchen, an ear always turned in their direction.

"Itadekimas," they both said, breaking their chopsticks.

"Bad," she sighed. "If I can't find some way of fixing it, he'll be forced to retire. That alone is enough to destroy him."

Sasuke turned and looked at her. "I have complete faith in you."

Sakura stared at him, surprised but grateful. "Thank you, Sasuke."

"You don't use the honorific anymore," he noted softly.

"People change, grow up," she shrugged. "Besides," she said with a laugh, "I'm sure it's a lot less annoying to you."

"It was never annoying," he said, finishing the last of his ramen.

Sakura laughed, not believing a word of that. Sasuke pushed his bowl away, turning fully to Sakura. "You're trying to hide it, but I can see you're tired. Let's skip our session today so you can get some rest and focus your attention on Kakashi tonight. We'll work tomorrow."

Sakura wanted to protest, but knew he was right. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was my suggestion."

Sasuke pulled out his wallet, but Sakura plunked down money first. She smiled, "My treat."

"Sakura-"

"You made me lunch yesterday. I've got this today. Tomorrow is your turn."

Sasuke smiled, "Deal."

* * *

Naruto stood at the window in his office, looking out at the mountain. He couldn't help but look from the Yondaime's image to his own; they looked so much alike.

'_I wonder what he would do in a situation like this?_' Naruto had been briefed on the attack on the ANBU cell, and was receiving regular status reports. And then the near fatal accident with that genin team… that team had been returning from a C-rank mission and it was possible that they just got caught in the traps set for the ANBU cell, but something about it just didn't sit well with him.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in."

Morino Ibiki stepped in, handing a scroll to Naruto. "Hokage-sama, we've just received this report from the Kusagakure north border outpost."

Naruto unfurled it and read. "I see. Thank you."

"Then I shall await your instructions," he replied, nodding respectfully before exiting.

So one of the outposts bordering the secondary land containing the Hidden Village of Grass had been raided. The leaf-nin stationed there had successfully fended off their attackers, ensuring no information was lost, receiving only minor injuries. It definitely didn't sit well with him.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set. Kakashi leaned back against the middle pillar of the training field. His left temple throbbed. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply in an effort to control the pain.

"Kakashi," Sakura smiled as she approached. Kakashi forced out a smile that didn't reach his visible eye. Kneeling down in front of him, she frowned, "You look like you overdid it today."

"I never overdo it."

Sakura sighed as she molded chakra to her hands, pressing her fingertips against his temple and the inner part of his eye. "How bad?"

"Eight."

"I'm going to insist you don't go on any missions for the next week."

Kakashi shook his head. "Not an option."

"It's an order," Sakura replied sternly, "and I'll get the Hokage to back me up if you push me on this. You need rest."

"How are the injured ANBU?"

"Stable." She let chakra flood his overextended doujutsu pathways, gently anesthetizing the area. Kakashi groaned in relief. She continued, "I know there's no one like the great copy-nin Kakashi, but there are more than enough of us to handle things while you recuperate."

"You really know what buttons to push, Sakura, buttering me up like that," he smiled.

"I do know," she said. '_What I _need_ to know is how to start fixing this…_' she ruminated. Studying Sasuke's sharingan a little, she could now at least identify the differences between the two. But identifying differences just wasn't enough. '_Please, let me find a way…_'

* * *

The velvety night sky was punctured with bright, twinkling stars. Sasuke sat in the upper branches of a large tree, content to watch the villagers below taking leisure time to enjoy their evening. It was nice, simple. '_I guess things always were simple here, even when they weren't,_' Sasuke thought. There was something oddly comforting about it.

He sensed the approaching presence moments before it appeared beside him. "How are you doing, Sasuke?" asked Ino. She plunked herself down, facing him as she straddled the branch.

"Fine."

"It's been a crazy couple of weeks for you."

"Hn."

"Still as talkative as ever, Sasuke-kun," Ino winked. Sasuke bristled. "How are you really? I want to know."

Sasuke had never, ever had a conversation with Ino that had any substance whatsoever. In point of fact, their only interaction had been Ino throwing herself at him and him ignoring her.

'_Though she was the one they sent in to interrogate me,_' he remembered. Maybe there was something to be said about it. Still, he wasn't sure how he felt about sharing any personal information with Ino, or anyone who wasn't a part of his team.

"I'm not going to bite, Sasuke," Ino prodded. "Look, you don't have a lot of friends here. In fact, outside of Naruto-sama and Sakura, you have no one. Now I'm Sakura's best friend-"

Sasuke interrupted, "You're friends with Sakura? I thought you two always hated each other."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Just for show. We were rivals, not unlike you and Naruto-sama, except the trying to kill each other part. But even as rivals, we were always friends," she explained. "Getting back to the point, Sakura loves you; Naruto-sama too for that matter. Since you're important to them, I'm going to be here for you too."

Sasuke stared, taking it all in. Ino was nothing if not blunt.

"So… answer the question. How are you?"

"Adjusting. I'm… adjusting."

"Fair enough. We're still going to see you tomorrow night, right?"

'_Shit._' He had completely forgotten. But he knew he had an obligation to go, at least if he wanted to fix things with he rest of the shinobi in the village. He nodded.

"Good," Ino replied satisfactorily, "I'm glad to hear it. We meet at Gomatsu's, usually around eight or so." Ino paused, causing a distinct shift in the energy between them. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hn," he replied warily.

"When you first got back… when I first inter-… My ability is pretty straight forward, as I'm sure you've guessed… When I first interrogated you, it's not just that I wasn't able to get anything from you... it's like nothing was there, to be able to get."

Sasuke's brow rose, "So what's the question?"

Ino frowned before sighing, "Nothing I guess. See you tomorrow night, okay?"

"Hn."

Ino disappeared. Sasuke continued to stare at the passers-by down below. '_The reason you weren't able to get anything, Ino, is because at the time, there was nothing to get. I was dead inside… But no longer._'

* * *

A/N: I apologize profusely for my tardiness in getting this out! To my reviewers, thank you so much, and please continue to leave feedback. (And thank you for the gentle nudge!) I hope you all enjoy.

~Lily


	12. Coming Clean

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

_

* * *

_

Sakura rushed, ineffectually, weaving her way through the tangled mob that took over the street. '_I'm in a hurry,_' she chanted silently, '_it's always when I'm in a hurry! These streets are totally bloody empty unless I'm in a hurry! And then everyone and their mother comes out and takes their good, sweet time!_'

She'd had drills with her ANBU squad at 0500 that morning, getting her day started with a hard workout. Afterwards, she'd run home to clean up and change only to realize she hadn't bothered to do laundry the night before. After scrounging for twenty minutes, all she could come up with was one of her ANBU shirts, a pair of black shorts, and the red flap skirt she wore at the hospital. She'd thrown her medical journal into her satchel and rushed out in a hurry only to find the main route to Sasuke's barred by hordes of people.

Sakura darted around one person, dashing to the left to avoid pedestrian congestion, and hung a right in order to take the alley a few feet ahead. A little old lady hunched over a cane, stepped right into the spot Sakura had been trying to slip into to escape the street, and promptly stopped. Sakura literally had to grab hold of something to stop before momentum caused her to run into the tiny, inconsiderate old coot. "Over here, darling!" she called in a grating voice, waving her scrawny little arm up in the air, missing Sakura's nose by only inches.

'_Kami! This is ridiculous!_' Getting to a clear spot, she crouched into position and vanished.

The rooftop was far less crowded. This way she could make her way to Sasuke's more effectively. She was already forty-five minutes late, and she hated tardiness in others and in herself, even if the circumstances were extenuating. '_Next time remember to do your shit, Sakura._'

* * *

Sasuke smiled to himself, making his way through the crowd, carrying a small cardboard box. It was a small gesture, but one he knew would be appreciated. He only hoped he wasn't running too late. He arrived home; fortunately Sakura wasn't there yet.

He set the box on the table then headed to the closet and stripped, putting on a pair of white pants and a blue cowl necked shirt. None of his clothing had the Uchiha crest, which he was pleased about, but his manner of dress was a habit that refused to die.

Sasuke pulled open the door just as Sakura knocked. "Hey," he smiled, "you're right on time."

"Huh?" she asked, still winded from the gauntlet course she'd run to get here. "You do realize it's like fighting for your life out there. I've never seen it so insane."

Sasuke crossed to the table and picked up the box. "Kento's Dango shop is handing out free chichi dango for the next two hours to promote some new dishes."

Sakura's face fell, "Really? I wish I'd known. I love dango."

"I know you love dango," Sasuke smiled, opening the box to hold up two dango sticks, "which is why I got you some."

"Sasuke!" she beamed, taking the sticks he handed to her. She happily bit into the sweet dango. "You didn't get any for yourself?"

"I don't like sweets so much."

"Oh, I knew that, actually," she replied, having recalled the memory of Sasuke saying it at one point, eons ago.

"So now that you have your sweets, hopefully you're all set to continue on our inquest. I figured we'd get a little work done before lunch."

"Mm hm," Sakura nodded, her mouth still full.

Sasuke watched her, happy that he had made her so happy by something so simple.

They got settled into the bed, Sasuke leaning back against the headboard, Sakura kneeling beside him, facing him.

Sakura gathered chakra to her hands, pressing her fingertips against his temples. "You know the drill. So what shall we discuss today? Activate."

"Are you going out with everyone tonight?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she answered casually, "kind of a routine. If you're in town, you'd better be there or you get hell for it. But I think it's great that most of us are as close as we are. Gives a real sense of camaraderie to all of us, especially in troubled times."

She probed his pathways. "Disengage." Having worked with Kakashi the previous night, she could definitely feel the discrepancies between Kakashi's sharingan and Sasuke's. "Perhaps if I isolate the area, treating it as a block, I can break down the scar tissue…" she muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh, sorry," she replied, "Thinking out loud. So you're coming right? Activate again."

Sasuke obliged, turning his sharingan back on. Sakura could feel the chakra run through its pathways, unobstructed and strong. The first step would be to treat the obstruction in Kakashi's, then go from there. She grabbed the journal she had beside her and scribbled a few notes.

"Yes…" he replied hesitantly. "I feel like maybe it's too soon, but a few people have expressed that they want me to come, so I feel like I'd be slighting them if I didn't."

Sakura set the pen down, resuming her place at Sasuke's temples. "Disengage. I think it would definitely be beneficial for others to see you're making an effort to become one of us, in order to truly become part of the village again. And since Naruto and I will both be there, you've got nothing to worry about." She jotted down more notes. "Okay, activate."

Once more, Sasuke's sharingan came to life. Sakura watched in fascination as his inky black irises turned red, the tomoe starting to spin. "Don't," Sasuke said.

"Hm?" she asked, confused.

"Don't look into my eyes while the sharingan is active."

"I did last time," Sakura replied, still unsure of what the problem was.

"You glanced at my eyes, but your eyes were trained on my forehead, where they should be. I won't risk you getting hurt."

Sakura pulled away, giving him a sarcastic disbelieving look. "You're telling me you don't have full control of your doujutsu?"

Sasuke frowned, "No, I'm not saying that. But I've never had anyone stare into my sharingan outside of battle, where it _is_ a weapon, so I don't know what might happen, and I'm not willing to take any chances with you."

"Fine," she replied, once more putting her fingers at his temples, taking care not to look at his eyes, however tempting they were.

Sasuke deflated with a heavy sigh. No matter what he did where she was concerned, it always seemed to be the wrong thing.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing."

She pulled away again. "Don't start that crap with me. If I did something to upset you, tell me. I can't fix it if I don't know what I've done."

"You haven't done anything," Sasuke said, deactivating his sharingan in order to meet her eyes. "Really."

He was met with a glare. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I was just looking out for you," he finally muttered.

Sakura was surprised. "I know that. What's the problem?"

"Well you seemed angry."

"Don't be ridiculous," Sakura rolled her eyes, "if I was angry, you'd know."

"Being considerate isn't ridiculous," Sasuke retorted.

"That's not what I said!" Sakura said defensively.

Sasuke took a deep breath. "Look, I said it was nothing. It's my fault for reading something that obviously wasn't there. Let's just get back to work."

"Fine," she replied, her tone definitely irritated this time. Sasuke leaned back, but couldn't relax. Sakura put her fingers to his temples, staring pointedly at his forehead. "Activate."

He sighed, doing as he was told. She came into sharp focus as his bloodline limit took over. He could see every single one of her eyelashes in crisp detail. They were long. His eyes trailed downward toward her neck. He couldn't imagine the ANBU shirts were comfortable; he knew he wouldn't like something that tight around his neck. But the shirts were incredibly fitted, and he couldn't help but notice the obvious swell of her breasts, which would ordinarily be covered by the vest.

"You're dressed unusually today," he commented casually.

"I crashed hard last night and didn't bother to do laundry, so I was stuck with this," she replied, her tone still edgy. "Disengage."

He tried to refrain from sighing. "There's more dango there, or I could get lunch," he offered.

"Not right now," she said as she pulled away, writing again. He sighed, getting up. "Would you stop it!?"

"Stop what exactly?" Sasuke asked, his frustration evident.

"Stop sighing!" she spat back. "Every two seconds you're sighing, 'Oh, woe is me. It's soooo difficult being misunderstood,' and it's getting really irritating! So stop!"

Sasuke glared at her. "That is so… you don't even… what the hell Sakura?"

"I'm sick and tired of having to tiptoe around you, catering to poor, delicate little Sasuke!"

"_What_ are you talking about?" Sasuke shouted. "You're not making any sense!"

Sakura stood up, throwing the notebook into her bag. "Fine!" she yelled, heading for the door, "I'm not making any sense! Just stupid, overly emotional Sakura flipping her gourd again for no good reason!"

"I didn't say that!" he yelled back, realizing she'd just become vividly clear; his sharingan had activated.

"You never say _anything_, Sasuke!" she shouted. "You sigh and you tch and you shift uncomfortably, but you never _say_ anything!"

She pulled open the door. With undetectable speed, Sasuke moved, slamming the door shut before she could go through it. "Get out of my way," she growled.

She was inches from him, her chest rising and falling with rapid, hard breaths, her eyes green fire blazing up at him.

He crushed her lips with his, pulling her tightly to him. Her bag slid off her shoulder, hitting the floor with a thud.

Sasuke pulled away. Her hand made contact with his cheek so hard it made his ears ring. He stared at her; she glared at him. And then grabbed him by the shirtfront, pulling him to her as she kissed him hard.

He wrapped her in his arms, kissing her desperately. Her lips were so soft and sweet; she tasted like dango. He didn't like sweet, but she was definitely an exception.

Her fingers tangled in his hair. It was softer than she ever imagined it would be. She felt his hand slip from her waist to the curve of her derriere, sending an electric thrill through her. This wasn't the kind of kissing she first imagined, daydreaming about Sasuke-kun so long ago, this was so much-

"Sasuke-" Sakura's breath hitched as she pulled away. Her wide eyes met his.

He was breathing as hard as she was. Her expression was… "Sakura, I'm so sorry, I-"

"No," she said between deep breaths, "don't apologize."

Sasuke shook his head. "No, I shouldn't have-"

She took long, deep breath. "Tell me that you mean it."

"That I'm sorry, of cour-"

"No," she said emphatically, her eyes locked with his, making her meaning clear. Her expression was almost pleading. "Tell me. That you mean it."

Sasuke stared hard at her. She was everything. Everything that he could want in a friend, in a partner, in someone he could share his life with. She understood him, didn't judge him, soothed him, encouraged him... She was everything.

"More than anything I mean it," he said.

Sakura began to smile. Surprisingly, Sasuke felt perfectly at ease. He hadn't professed undying love for her and she didn't ask him to; what they had now was simple understanding, which was so much better. Sakura really was gorgeous when she smiled, a smile that was contagious. Sasuke couldn't help himself, he leaned in and kissed her gently.

As he pulled away, Sakura began laughing. She ran her fingers through her messy hair and looked at Sasuke, shaking her head, "Wow, was I a bitch."

"No-" Sasuke started, then stopped, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips, "okay, maybe a little."

"A lot," she countered. "Sai says I'm not good about expressing my feelings, and that when I repress, they manifest in the form of violence."

"I would have to agree." He smirked.

Sakura stared into his beautiful red eyes and smiled. "Nothing's happened, you know."

Sasuke tilted his head, puzzled. A lot had happened as far as he was concerned. "I don't follow."

"Your eyes," she explained, "your sharingan is still active. I've been staring right into your eyes and nothing has happened."

Sasuke suddenly became self-conscious, blinking to deactivate his kekkei-genkai. "I'm sorry. Heat of the moment… it just happens."

She smiled. "Well we solved one mystery at least."

"Are you hungry?"

"Famished. Fighting always works up an appetite."

"Yeah," Sasuke snickered, "definitely." He pulled two platters of sushi out of the refrigerator and set them on the table. They began to eat.

Sasuke couldn't help but watch her. She fascinated him. The girl he knew as a genin was sweet and intelligent but unfocused and far too emotional. This Sakura, older, more mature, her emotions were still volatile but she now possessed a determination, strength and wisdom he never imagined.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he smiled.

"Okay," she smiled back, reaching for the remaining dango. "Thank you again for this. It was really sweet of you."

He shrugged as if to say 'no big deal.'

"I guess that's never going to change, is it?" she said.

"What?"

"You never say much, especially when someone puts you on the spot by thanking you for something nice you've done." Sasuke squirmed slightly. "It's cute."

Sasuke averted his eyes, turning just the slightest shade of pink.

"Why Sasuke-kun," she teased, "are you blushing?"

"Stop it," he muttered. After a few moments, he lifted his eyes to meet hers. She was grinning.

"Shall we get back to work?" she asked as he finished the last of his meal.

"Hn."

They situated themselves back on the bed. Sakura placed her fingertips at his temples. Sasuke reached forward, grabbing her behind the neck and pulling her into a kiss. "Okay," he said, leaning back, "now we can start."

* * *

A/N: Once again, thank you to all my reviewers! I appreciate the support more than I can say. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. Please continue to leave love!

~Lily


	13. Of All The

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

* * *

The sky was brilliant with pinks and oranges as the sun began its descent. Naruto watched Kakashi's shadow continue to lengthen on the wall, making him look more freakishly tall than he already was.

"So how do you plan to handle the situation?" Kakashi asked, leaning against the large desk.

Naruto sat on the sofa, elbows on his knees, his hands in his hair, yanking. On the small table in front of him was an unraveled scroll. "I don't know yet." He took a deep breath.

"Naruto, you need to-"

"What, Kakashi? I need to what?" Naruto spat back angrily. "Two more injured ninja and two dead! And another cell that's over four hours late in getting here!

"After weeks, and having two nin _supposedly_ on the inside, the only thing we've got is that the aggression is coming from probably somewhere basically close to nearby Kusa maybe! So tell me, Kakashi, what exactly do you suggest I do?"

"Keep a level head," Kakashi stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Naruto glared at daggers at him. Kakashi remained nonplussed. "Pass the info on to all necessary shinobi, call a meeting for first thing in the morning and then sleep on it. Don't make any decisions tonight."

"It's not that simple!" yelled Naruto.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Kakashi could not contain the smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"What are you smirking at?"

"The irony that _you_ are trying to impress upon _me_ the idea that something is not simple."

Naruto lunged at him, and then suddenly, as though literally struck by the weight of Kakashi's words, sat back down. He paused a moment, snorted, shook his head, and then laughed.

"Send word once the incoming cell arrives. See you in the morning," the silver-haired jounin nodded as he vanished.

Just as Naruto settled back into the sofa, more relaxed, a knock sounded at his door. Inwardly he groaned, muttering, "Come in."

A harried looking chuunin entered. Naruto sat up straighter, dreading what he knew was coming. "Hokage-sama…"

* * *

Sasuke stood in front of the mirror, examining his hair. It was hair: thick, black, he got it cut occasionally, liked it a specific way, made sure that it was undeniably his own style, but really, he never gave much thought to it. Except that Sakura had mentioned earlier that she had always wondered what his hair felt like, and now that she had felt it, she was 'surprised that it wasn't as soft' as she 'thought it would be, not that it's a bad thing,' which left Sasuke perplexed and wondering what exactly was wrong with his hair, and how to fix it.

'_Of course,_' he realized as he stared warily at his reflection, '_that's not the pressing issue. The pressing issue is-_'

"What the hell was I thinking, agreeing to this?" he muttered under his breath. He glared at his mirrored doppelganger as though his reflection was directly responsible for his current dilemma: going out to make nice with people who hate him. Willpower alone enabled him to deny any trace of insecurity as he ran his fingers through the long fringe of bangs gracing the right side of his face. No improvement. "Fuck."

Of course the afternoon had been nice, '_after the fight,'_ he thought, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

He had watched as she wrote seeming volumes about her discoveries of his kekkei-genkai, fascinated by her. As her writing had slowed, she'd looked up. "What?" she'd asked.

"Nothing," he'd replied, a smile tugging on his lips. Sakura had tossed her journal aside, crawled up onto her hands and knees and put her face inches from Sasuke's, and then she'd leaned in and kissed him.

It had been a sweet kiss at first, but had quickly progressed to something far less innocent. He'd grabbed her and thrown her down onto the bed, pinned her with his weight. Sakura had stared up slyly at him, a twisted, mischievous grin played on her features. She'd tangled the fingers of her right hand into his hair, and against his will, or maybe his will had allowed it, she had pulled him to her roughly, kissing him fiercely for minutes or hours or lifetimes.

It was something akin to battle rage, what Sasuke had felt when she took such control of the situation, of him. Using her incredible strength, she had flipped them around, had pinned Sasuke's wrists on both sides of his head, stared at him like the cat that got the canary, and Sasuke had felt something well up in him that he didn't understand, but had known instinctually to be urgent, necessary, Kami, he would die without it.

Sakura had leaned down, so agonizingly slowly Sasuke had thought his world would end just waiting for those sweet lips on his again; he'd struggled against her, wanting to regain the upper hand and control but wanting to prolong his exquisite, blissful agony, when finally, just as Sasuke had known that this was his end, that he was in fact dying, Sakura's lips had gently, softly, sweetly met his. Sasuke had felt warmth spread through his entire body, unlike anything he had ever known. Just as quickly, that nice, enveloping warmth had become a raging fire, something he had never felt before but recognized to be, in a word, desire.

He'd renewed his struggle in her vice-like grip, determined to have her in every way when Sakura had suddenly let go, had climbed off him, off the bed, grabbed her journal… This was not the way it was supposed to happen, Sasuke'd realized. He'd watched dumbfounded as she approached the door. He'd jumped up, dashed to stop her. She'd slipped her shoes on, told him, "I have to go, I'll see you tonight," kissed him sweetly and had vanished, had left him standing there speechless, breathless.

Sasuke felt the same warm feeling just thinking about it now.

There were several realizations he had come to since returning to the village. The most obvious one being that Naruto, for however irrational or seemingly unpredictable his thoughts, motives or actions might be, was entirely transparent once you knew him. But after this afternoon, he came to the shocking realization that Sakura, as unoriginal and painfully predictable as Sasuke had always thought her to be, he would never figure out in a million years.

'_Threatens to _kill_ me, shows up on my doorstep and bitches me out, manages to figure out my deep, dark secret _and_ repair the evidence, chastises me like a _child_ for giving her what she's always said she wanted, _ignores_ me, and then verbally _kicks my ass_ for _no reason_ before _making out_ with me…_' he mused.

Still, every time his thoughts returned to the present, the insecurity that wasn't there kept sweeping across the features of his reflection. He was solidly secure in where he stood with Sakura and Naruto, even with Sai, whom he had seen initially as a poor replacement in his own stead, but Sai was far more than Sasuke first thought. But the rest of them… Kiba and Ino had seemed receptive; there was no reason to think anyone else wouldn't be, except the obvious of course (Hyuuga came to mind), but then weren't Naruto and Sakura always preaching he should be more positive? Besides, they'd both be there tonight to help ease the discomfort of the situation.

He glared at his troubled reflection, irked to find said mirror image staring intently at his hair. "Fuck-all," and he threw his head under the faucet and turned the water on.

* * *

Hot, steamy water ran down Sakura, who was humming a happy tune as she ran a kunai over her lathered, toned leg. It wasn't any one thing that had her in such a good mood, but rather several. She was making even more progress in studying the Sharingan, which she couldn't wait to put to good use in her next session with Kakashi. There was also the fact that, for as much work as she had gotten done with Sasuke earlier in the afternoon, there had also been, well, she finally knew what those lips of his felt like-

She sensed the presence and seamlessly tossed the kunai straight through the shower curtain into the doorframe.

"I need your help." That deep, dulcet tone could only belong to one man.

Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes. '_Of all times, why now?_' She grabbed hold of the all-but-transparent shower curtain and poked her head out around it, hoping that the randomly spaced holographic fish were not-so-random-ly covering her girl-bits.

"Neji, as I'm sure you and your incredible powers of sight can gather, I'm having a rather obvious case of nudity here. Since you've made it a habit of breaking and entering my home, can you please pretend to have at least one last shred of manners and wait in the living room until I'm out of the shower?"

"It's nothing I haven't seen before," Neji replied as he pried the kunai just next to his head from the doorframe. He crossed the short space of the washroom and handed it back to her as he took a seat on the lidded commode.

Sakura glared at him as she wrenched it from his hand. "That's not the point," she muttered through her teeth. She resumed dragging the kunai along her leg, shaving the last bit on her left. "So what is so important that it can't wait the three minutes until I'm out?" she asked before sticking the kunai in her teeth and propping her right up on a soap dish to lather.

"It's Tenten…" he said, an uncharacteristic tone in his voice.

"I assumed as much." Sakura bent over, dragging the kunai gently over her delicate foam-covered skin. "What's up?"

Neji's hand shot from around the shower curtain out in front of her, a box containing a beautiful golden ring open in it.

A sharp gasp and the leg Sakura was balancing on slipped out from beneath her, causing her to knick herself sharply in the shin with her kunai before landing hard on her ass. "Shit!"

Neji's head peered in around the shower curtain. "You okay?"

"I. Hate. You."

"You're right," he said quietly, "I'll wait in the other room until you're finished."

"Or you could, you know, make yourself useful and get me a bandage please. Top drawer on the right."

Neji dug through the drawer while Sakura hurriedly finished shaving around the wound, ignoring the blossoming red rose that ran in dissecting lines as she stood and rinsed the conditioner out of her hair. Turning off the faucet, she pulled back the shower curtain and opened her eyes to see Neji standing there, his face averted, holding out her bathrobe for her to step into. Once she had it wrapped around her, Neji gently pushed her onto the commode, pulling out her leg.

"Neji, I've got this, really-"

"I need your opinion," he replied, handing her the open box while kneeling down to bandage her leg. Unable to meet her eyes, he stared at the open cut, which even now seemed to be shallowing. He wrapped gauze around it anyway. "She's coming back tonight, so I need your opinion now."

Sakura stared at the intricately engraved ring. It looked as if it were etched in layers of ivy. '_No, wait…_' she held it up, closely scrutinizing, '_is that interlocking shuriken?_' "Neji…" she said, breathless, "it's beau-"

Neji's head spun around as Sakura looked up sharply to see Sai standing in the bathroom doorway.

"It appears that I'm interrupting something," he said flatly. "I'll wait outside." He turned and walked out.

Neji stared at Sakura dumbstruck, as she muttered, "My washroom's busier than shinobi headquarters…"

"This looks very incriminating," Neji said quietly. "You don't think he would-"

Sakura shook her head, feeling the last bits of water swish in her ears. "Sai's not the type to gossip. Forget about it," she said with a wave of her hand, "Neji, this is gorgeous! Really, I'm speechless, and I'm not the intended either. She'll love it."

Neji relaxed. "How is your leg?"

"Psh," she waved again, standing, "so, when are you going to do it?"

Neji stood, replying, "I plan to do it later tonight, in the training field, after-"

"-In the moonlight, Neji, that'll be perfect!" Sakura gushed.

He nodded, looking much more himself now then when he entered. "I'm sorry for… intruding." His lips turned upward into a smirk. Sakura reached out to smack him; he caught her wrist in his grip. Sakura wrenched out of it and threw her arms around him. "Neji, I'm thrilled for you! I can't wait to hear all about it," Sakura grinned mischievously as they parted, "so once all's done and said yes to, you'll have to be a _girl_ and tell me everything."

"Don't push it, Haruno," he winked as he turned and vanished.

Sakura turned to the mirror, running her fingers through her pink tresses. Sai appeared in the doorway next to her. "Oh, Sai, I'm so sorry, I forgot-"

"I apologize for interrupting," he started, his dark eyes instilling immediate chill into her, "but it's important."

* * *

Sasuke spun a circle then glanced at the clock on the side of the library two buildings over. Ten past nine. Sakura had asked him to meet her outside the bar around nine, and while Sasuke was usually very punctual, he had been somewhat delayed due to issues of a delicate nature. His scalp tingled a little unpleasantly.

"Sasuke!" a happy female voice cried. He turned to see Ino approaching. "I'm glad you came! What are you doing out here? Hiding, I'm sure. Everyone's already inside."

She yanked his arm, spinning him around to face the entrance of the establishment. Inside he could see Kiba, Lee, Hinata and Chouji all sitting in the farthest corner. "Small crowd," Ino shrugged, "guess not everyone's here yet. Well, come on," she tugged again.

"Sakura said I should meet-"

"Sakura knows her way to the back corner," Ino replied as she dragged him in, continuing over the din, "and she can drink everyone save Naruto-sama right under the table, so if she's told you anything otherwise or tries to trick you into some stupid drinking game, I've given you fair warning. Hey everybody, look who decided to grace us with his notorious presence!"

A rock formed in the pit of Sasuke's stomach at the term 'notorious' in tandem with the immediate looks he got from the four people sitting at the table.

"Hello, Sasuke," Hinata smiled kindly.

"Uchiha-san, you may come and sit by me if you so wish to push yourself ever forward in the striving goal of excellence!" Lee said enthusiastically. Sasuke glanced up at movement; Kiba shook his head violently, mouthing 'NO!" silently at him.

Ino sidled right into the seat open next to Kiba, yanking Sasuke into the one just next to that. "See Sasuke, saved a place for you and everything," she smiled.

"Glad you showed up," Kiba nodded to him. "Neji said he and the lady might be a bit late, but I don't know where everyone else is."

"Two contingents from the borders were expected to arrive today," Hinata explained, "so it's likely that if people are late, that's why. Influx of personnel all with information and needing to be debriefed, it gets crazy. Naruto-sama said earlier he might not make it. Actually," she looked to Ino, "I'm surprised you're free tonight."

"I was on the morning shift, so I got the first wave that came in for debriefing between eleven and three. I finally had to call it a day by five-thirty, with a twelve-hour turn around so it's going to be an early night for me."

"Poor baby," Kiba said, kissing her gently.

"But at least I got to be the first to welcome home Chouji!" she grinned happily at her former teammate.

Sasuke felt a pang of disappointment in realizing Naruto likely wouldn't make it. Looking around, despite everyone's genuine niceness and sincerity, he just wasn't comfortable not having him there. Sakura had said they were all regulars too, but then she hadn't been involved with any of the new cells coming in, so why wasn't she here?

"Hey Sasuke, whatcha drinkin'?" asked Kiba.

Sasuke hesitated, unwilling to admit he'd really never had alcohol before. His father, in addition to sake, had always favored gin and tonics, so… "Gin and tonic." '_Hopefully it isn't disgusting._'

"Right on," was Kiba's reply. He hailed the booze slave over to place the table's order.

The pretty waitress repeated, "So that's two pitchers of beer, one very large bottle of sake, a pineapple parade, a full bottle of rum, a G&T, and a very large straight cranberry."

"That's it," Kiba replied, winking at her as she sauntered off. Ino elbowed him in the ribs. "Hey, that's just so she brings out the good stuff. You know you're my one and only." He leaned over and kissed her… a lot.

Sasuke turned away, disgusted by the display. Then he wondered if he could see himself doing that with Sakura. '_No, definitely not in public._'

"Alright Inuzuka, stop slurping her face off or I'm gonna have to hurt you something fierce," Chouji said, slamming down the empty glass in his hands.

"Come now, Chouji-san, it's the springtime of our youth! If they want to partake in the time honored tradition of young love-"

"-They should get a room, because if they keep at it, I'll blow the whistle on their public indecency," Chouji finished.

Kiba pried himself from Ino, "You're just jealous because you're all alone tonight."

Chouji rankled slightly. "Megumi's in Taki visiting her cousins, which is totally unfair in my opinion seeing as I've been gone three months and only just got back today. But, she'll be back next week. And even so, we don't go at it like rabbits in public."

"Yeah," Ino replied, "you just go at it like rabbits in dark corners when you think no one's watching."

Chouji waved his fist in her direction but said nothing; Ino grinned.

The waitress returned with their round, setting everything on the table. Chouji passed the sake to Hinata, the parade to Ino, the cranberry juice to Lee, and then poured himself and Kiba glasses of brew.

"Chouji…" Ino gave him a pointed look. Chouji eyed the gin and tonic, then looked up at Ino, challenging her to say something further.

"Here you go, Sasuke," she said, shooting another dirty look at Chouji as she passed the highball glass toward the Uchiha.

"Thanks," he replied, acutely aware of what had just transpired.

Conversation continued as though he wasn't even there. It's not that he'd been expecting them to ask all sorts of questions, or even make any effort to sort-of include him, but this being on the periphery, there, but not really part of the group, was disconcerting. He took a sip from his drink, and by sheer willpower alone managed to not spew it across the table. '_Kami, that's foul! Where the hell is Sakura?_'

* * *

Sakura tore into the hospital, pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she ran, Sai hot on her heels.

"Status!" she demanded from the charge nurse as she rounded the corner of the CCU.

Charge Nurse Yumi followed Sakura as she rounded her way through the large double doors into the surgery wing. "Three dead, five minor-to-moderate injuries, two critical injuries. Shizune-sama's in O.R. one with the first. Second critical victim: kunoichi, approximately nineteen to twenty-three years of age, severe lacerations to sixty percent of the body, showing signs of respiratory distress. Has received two quarts transfused blood, but we can't stop the bleeding."

Sakura plunged her hands into the sink. Without turning around she said, "Sai, go get Ino. Don't alert anyone to anything, just get her here, and make sure she's sober."

"Got it."

Sakura didn't have to look up to know he was gone. To Yumi she said, "Has Aburame Shino arrived back yet? If so, I want him in here, he can help Ino treat the minor wounded."

"Sakura-sama…" she started. Something in the tone of her voice caused Sakura alarm. "He's in O.R. one with Shizune-sama."

"Assisting?" asked Sakura, a rock forming in the pit of her stomach telling her she already knew the answer. Yumi shook her head. Sakura pushed through the doors of O.R. three.

Walking in, she could hear the beeps of the vital monitors and, listening closely, the telltale sound of a damaged lung. She stepped up to the table and looked down at the patient. Long brunette hair dangled in a tangled mess off the end of the table, bangs askew across her cut-up bloodied face. Sakura's insides clenched. "Bucket."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-sama?" said one of the nurses.

The patient's eyelids fluttered slightly then opened to reveal large pain-filled brown eyes, confirming Sakura's worst suspicion.

"Bucket! Now!" she cried, "_Bucket!_"

One of the nurses held out a large pan just in time for Sakura to turn around and vomit.

'_Tenten…_'

* * *

A/N: To my dearest faithful readers, I offer you my sincerest apologies for the tremendous delay in getting this chapter out. While I try to leave the personal out of my writing, I feel obligated to explain that the reason for my hiatus has been extended illness, and that after several long months I am now most assuredly on the mend and looking forward to continuing "Grace" with renewed passion and fervor.

I sincerely hope you will forgive me this delay, and more so that you enjoy this new chapter. As always, please R&R.

Love,

~Lily


	14. Moments In Between

**Grace**

_By: LilyDraken_

* * *

Sasuke was bored. It was nearing 10:30, and Sakura still hadn't bothered to show up. He wondered briefly if he'd done something wrong earlier, and that was why she'd left so abruptly, but no, she'd kissed him beforehand and said, "I'll see you tonight." '_Though obviously she hasn't because she's still not here,_' he sulked silently.

His thoughts were interrupted as a high-strung chaotic chakra presence pervaded the establishment. He turned to see Sai had entered. Sai's features remained characteristically blank, but his chakra was whirring around him to a point Sasuke swore he could actually hear it.

"Sai! 'Bout time you got your scrawny ass here!" Kiba shouted, waving his brew filled hand at him, sloshing suds all over himself.

Sai approached, cautiously Sasuke noted. Years of training and instinct told him something serious was going on; serious and meant to be kept quiet. He watched as Sai stepped up and said, "Hey beautiful," to Ino.

Kiba's eyes narrowed into slits. Ino and everyone else save Sasuke looked downright shocked. "Um…" she started.

"Need to borrow you for a few minutes," he said pointedly to her, holding a locked, steady and very loaded gaze. To Kiba, "Don't worry, Fido, it's just shop talk."

Kiba looked ready to protest, but Ino calmly stood up and joined him. The pair stepped back a few paces to talk quietly.

Sasuke subtly glanced over his shoulder, as though looking for someone, in order to watch them. The energy around Sai was buzzing, and the way Ino went without any hesitation confirmed that they had communicated in that intense stare. Sai's back was to him, but he had a clear view of Ino's face, whose eyes widened as her jaw dropped in what looked like shock, panic, or both. He watched as she urgently nodded, pulled out and swallowed what he guessed to be some type of food pill, and returned to the group.

"Sorry guys, but I've got to call it a night. Like I said, early morning."

There was a general sigh of disappointment and a chorus of 'good-nights' as Ino pecked Kiba lightly on the lips and left with Sai. Sasuke waited until they were out of sight before excusing himself to the restroom. Once he was up and a safe distance from the table, sure no one was minding him, he slipped out.

The Uchiha found himself in throngs of people, all enjoying the beautiful summer evening. His sharp eyes scanned the area: two blocks down, two chuunin talking in hushed whispers. His eyes darted to the left. Up on one of the higher rooftops, a solitary ninja stood, his head turning as he scanned the upper area. Directly across but far lower, another ninja, signaling to- Sasuke turned to follow the path and-

Bam! He'd spun right into; he blinked his eyes to refocus: "Hyuuga."

Neji didn't so much as look at Sasuke, continuing straight on. Sasuke pursued.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked as he caught up with Neji.

"You are not Leaf shinobi; I am not obligated to tell you anything," Neji replied tersely.

Sasuke grabbed him roughly by the arm, spinning him around. "Hyuuga-"

Neji jerked away, performed a seal and vanished, leaving Sasuke frustrated and angry. Unable to use jutsu to move, he ran straight to the Hokage tower, hoping Naruto would fill him in.

As he reached the rooftop, he saw a crowd of gathered jounin, only jounin, standing at attention. At the front was Naruto.

"… this incident," he was saying. "We need to alert all ninja at the border outposts to strengthen fortifications and prepare for possible attack. This information is to remain at the highest levels only. No one under rank of the jounin is to be briefed, understood?"

A unanimous "Yes, Hokage-sama" resounded.

"Those of you selected to inform the outposts, go."

There was a whoosh sound as they vanished. It seemed that concluded the meeting. Sasuke began to approach Naruto and was stopped by Kakashi, who looked at him with his one visible eye with interest.

"I have nothing to do with whatever this is," Sasuke said, glaring coldly at him.

"I didn't say you did."

"Then why-"

"Because that doesn't concern you." Kakashi tipped his head toward Naruto, who was speaking with Neji.

Sasuke watched as the Hyuuga's face drained of color. The two were interrupted by a chuunin who handed Naruto a scroll. The hokage read it, his face twisting up into fury; the scroll crumbled in his hands. The chuunin vanished. Naruto nodded to Neji, who in turn also vanished.

"Now you can go," Kakashi said, moving out of the way.

It wasn't necessary. Naruto approached. "Shino's dead."

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock; Kakashi nodded. "Tenten?"

"Sakura-chan says she's stable."

"The others?"

"They'll live."

Sasuke had rarely seen Naruto look so dejected. He glanced from the hokage to Kakashi and back. Naruto only just seemed to register Sasuke's presence. "What are you doing here?"

"I…" Sasuke closed him mouth, realizing he didn't know how to answer.

"Kakashi, would you excuse us please," said Naruto. Kakashi gave him a cogent look before vanishing.

Naruto faced Sasuke. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," Sasuke replied.

"Don't hold back." Naruto lunged at him.

Sasuke didn't hold back.

* * *

Sakura checked the monitor beside Tenten's bed. The kunoichi was sound asleep, her breathing even and regular, her vitals all within normal range. Sakura had covered the deep gashes covering Tenten's face, arms and legs with heavy bandages, having exhausted most of her chakra in stabilizing her. She adjusted the IV drip and injected a shot of morphine.

She sensed Neji's presence behind her. She turned to see him frozen in the doorway, his eyes locked on Tenten. Sakura grabbed a nearby chair and set it down beside the bed.

She approached him and turned his face to hers. "Look at me," she ordered. Neji shifted his eyes to hers. "She is going to be alright."

Neji stared at her long moments; he nodded. Sakura led him to the chair she's just moved and sat him down.

"Stay as long as you like. I'll let the nurses know."

Neji nodded. Sakura dimmed the lights as she exited and made her way home.

* * *

Naruto walked in to his apartment, bruised and bloodied. Sasuke upheld his end of the deal; Naruto hoped the Uchiha wasn't in too bad of shape. He'd set a meeting for the morning in which to brief the rest of the jounin who were off duty last night.

Still, he dreaded going into his bedroom to find his fiancé waiting for him, knowing what he would have to tell her. A rock formed in the pit of his stomach.

Unable to face her just yet, he opted for a shower. He turned up the water to near scalding, tearing his clothes off as he walked into the water. Every cut and bruise Sasuke had inflicted screamed as the cascade of fire rained down on him; Naruto relished each and every painful stab.

'_How could this happen? What is it that we missed? That _I_ missed? How could I be such a failure?' _ "Damn it!"

Without realizing it, he had punched the wall of the shower stall. "Shit." Quickly he shut the water off, grabbing any and all towels within reach to plug the hole.

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto cringed at the sound of the voice he usually loved so well. "Hinata-chan…" He realized how strangled his voice sounded. '_Please… please I'm not ready. I'm not ready to tell her her teammate was killed…_'

His blue eyes rose to meet her. There she was, in a short nightie, looking half asleep and all beautiful. '_Maybe… maybe I can put it off until morning…_'

"You're hurt," she whispered, pulling him up to stand before her. She tenderly raised her fingers to his blackened left eye. "What happened?"

"Hinata-chan…" He couldn't help it. Despite his best efforts, despite his _will_, his eyes filled with tears. "Hinata-chan, there was an incident... Shino… he didn't make it."

A small gasp escaped her lips. Naruto stood there helpless as he watched a myriad of emotions cross her face. He waited for her tears, but they didn't come. He stood there speechless; he was awed by her strength, surprised at how different her reaction was from how he imagined it would be. After long moments, he stepped forward to take her into his arms. She pulled away.

"Naruto-kun, I'm sorry. I have to be with Kiba tonight."

Naruto stood dumbfounded as Hinata quickly changed and vanished into the night.

* * *

Already in pajamas, Sakura sat in her bed, not quite ready to sleep; she was waiting. Ino came in with two steaming cups of tea. "Don't worry," she said, "it's decaf."

"Thank you," replied Sakura she took it and sipped gently.

Ino sat across from her on the bed. She said, "I just wanted to be there, you know, when he got the news. It wasn't like I could be the one to tell him; I mean even if I _could_, I couldn't, you know? But he knew something was wrong, and just kept pressing. But then Hinata showed up, and she _knew_, and I just felt like it needed to be the two of them, he was their teammate after all, and I know how that feels, well, sort of, but I just wasn't ready to go home quite yet, not after everything that happened, and-"

"Ino," Sakura interrupted, "it's okay. I understand." She took Ino's hand in hers and smiled wearily.

"No, you're exhausted. I know how much you must've pushed yourself in saving Tenten, with how bad off she was. You need rest, and I'm being selfish-"

"Stop," she said gently. "You're not being selfish. This is hard on all of us. Shino was the first of us that…" her voice trailed off. "It's going to be hard for all of us."

"I just keep thinking, Hinata and Kiba, he was their teammate. I mean I know we lost Asuma-sensei, and that was so hard, but he was our sensei, our leader, he wasn't…"

"One of us," Sakura finished.

"Yeah." Ino drank down the contents of her cup. "I don't know what to say, to either of them, just like I didn't to you when Sas- …but this is different."

Sakura set her empty cup aside and took Ino's hand. "Just be there when he needs you. You don't have to say anything. Just be there."

Ino nodded. "Thanks Sakura." She took a long deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I'll stay if you need, but if not, I'd like to-" she stopped, sensing a strong chakra presence.

Naruto climbed through Sakura's bedroom window, stopping when he saw Ino there. "Sorry, didn't mean to intrude…"

Ino turned back to Sakura and smiled. "I see you're in good hands." She leaned forward and hugged Sakura tightly. "See you in the morning." She stood and turned to the hokage. "Naruto-sama," she said formally, and then hugged him before leaving.

Sakura opened her arms; Naruto flew into them.

* * *

The moon was starting its descent. Sasuke stood outside Sakura's bedroom window, watching her and Naruto sleep. Part of him wanted desperately to be in there with them, but felt that it wasn't his place, that he hadn't earned that right back, not yet anyway.

The afternoon with Sakura felt like a lifetime ago with everything that had transpired over the last several hours. '_With all that's happened, will that change anything between us?_' he wondered.

He felt certain with Naruto, had from the moment Naruto set him straight that first time in his office. And tonight, even had he not been right there at that moment, Sasuke felt sure Naruto would have sought him out to fight. With Sakura, everything was always less certain, and now… '_Stop it,_' he told himself, '_just be patient._'

Difficult, as patience was never one of his virtues.

He spun around as he sensed someone approach. Sai. "What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, but then realized that was perhaps a stupid question. Sai was part of Team Naruto/Sakura as well.

"Same as you, I'm guessing," he replied.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied awkwardly, turning back toward the window.

Sai studied him. "It's always been the two of them you know, after you left I'm guessing." He paused, "I was added as your replacement, and it took them a long time to accept me, but even then, I was an outsider. I know I'm not so much any more now, but there are times like this, I know to leave them be. Just like you do, seeing as you're out here right now and not in there."

Sasuke said nothing.

Sai walked past him, removed a key, unlocked and opened Sakura's front door.

"I thought you just said you'd leave them alone," Sasuke glared.

"And I will," Sai replied, "from the living room. Are you coming?"

Sasuke paused a moment, caught off guard. It took only a moment to decide: he followed.

* * *

Sakura awoke slowly, being pulled out of a heavy dream by the knowledge that someone was with her. Finally she found the strength to open her eyes. Outside there was only the dark smoky hue of the sun's imminent ascent. Naruto was asleep beside her.

She quickly ran through the list of everything she needed to accomplish today. Getting back to the hospital to spend some time on Tenten before Suigo came in was of the utmost importance. She had to be successful.

She made her way down the hall toward the kitchen. She wasn't surprised to see Sai asleep on the sofa. She rounded the corner into the kitchen and held back a gasp, shocked to find Sasuke asleep on the floor. Sakura smiled. She threw two slices of bread into the toaster.

In the interim, she returned to her room, quickly getting dressed. When she re-entered, she found Sasuke in the kitchen, spreading jam on her toast. "You're leaving early," he said quietly.

"I need to get over to see Tenten," she said, attaching her ninja pouch.

He wrapped the toast in a kerchief. "I heard you saved her."

Sakura smiled sadly, "There's still a lot I need to do."

Sasuke handed her wrapped breakfast to her, giving her a steady look. "I have full confidence in you."

"Thank you Sasuke," she replied, leaning forward and kissing him softly. "I'll see you later."

* * *

Sakura had spent the first two hours repairing the remainder of the more serious injuries. Neji had arrived a little less than an hour after she had; he had taken a seat beside Tenten's bed, her hand in his, and remained silent.

An hour after Neji had arrived, Sakura turned her attention to the lacerations on her friend's visage. Ironically, it was far more taxing to heal such wounds on a cellular level than to triage and treat severe injuries in the field. To repair anything at the cellular level required a precision few possessed, let alone used to repair something considered cosmetic.

Scars were common for ninja, but Sakura knew she wouldn't want to be riddled with such ugly reminders of a fight that nearly cost her life; she wasn't about to leave Tenten to that fate.

Time crawled slowly on as Neji watched the deep gashes on his intended's face, several down to the bone, shallow under Sakura's skilled fingers. From time to time, he could see Sakura stop, flex her fingers, sigh, crack her neck, only to resume her careful ministrations. After several hours, Neji finally broke the silence. "You're getting tired."

Sakura shook her head stubbornly, "I'm fine."

He looked down to Tenten. The worst of the lacerations now appeared to be no more than superficial scratches; the rest all but vanished. He looked back up at Sakura; she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly. He didn't need Byakugan to see she was at her limit.

"Enough," he said.

"Neji, if you don't shut up and let me work, I swear I'll-"

"Remove you physically from this room and put you under guard if you don't obey this order," Neji interjected as he stood.

"In case you missed it," she spat back, "this patient happens to be a friend of mine and I would like to not have her wake up to a horror show, especially seeing as I've got in on good authority she's getting proposed to."

"And because of you she won't," he replied evenly. He was unsurprised by her look of astonishment, having grown used to her losing all sense of time when manipulating chakra on such a level.

Sakura stared at him in fury, shouting, "You mean you're not-"

Neji's brows knitted together in confusion. Sakura's jaw locked, her eyes flamed. Realization quickly dawned on him. "No, Sakura! No! I mean about the horror-"

"You're an idiot," she cut him off, sighing with relief. She turned and slumped into a nearby chair.

Neji gave her a scathing look as he sat down again. He sighed, once more taking Tenten's hand in his; he looked at Sakura. "You push yourself too hard."

Sakura gave him a telling look, "It's Tenten."

"I know," he said quietly, giving her a small smile, "which is why I've let you get away with it. Just this once."

Sakura gave a quick, tired laugh.

Neji walked over to her, knelt down in front of her and took her hands into both of his. "Sakura."

She lifted her head up to meet his gaze and noted something different about him, something in his demeanor, in his look, she had never, in all their long years of friendship, seen in him before.

"Sakura," he continued, his voice tight, "you have given me _everything_ in saving her."

It was emotion, Sakura realized. Neji, who by his very nature was unemotional, had opened up to her. The gravity of this new intimacy overwhelmed her. She fought back the tears burning in her eyes. The corners of her lips tugged into an unbidden emotional smile.

She leaned forward and cupped his face in her hands. "Neji, she'll be okay."

Neji closed the distance and enveloped her in his arms. Sakura managed to twist her own arms out from between their bodies and wrap them around him to complete the embrace. "She's going to be just fine," she repeated quietly against his ear.

She felt him nod against her shoulder as he tightened around her. "Sakura... Thank you," he whispered.

Sakura squeezed Neji close, her own emotions overtaking her. '_Sasuke..._' came unbidden to her mind. '_I've been holding back, haven't allowed myself to feel it,_' she realized, '_how much I still, have and will always, love him.'_

* * *

A/N: To my reviewers, thank you for your continued support. I always appreciate the feedback. I hope you like this latest chapter! As always, leave love! Thanks,

~Lily


	15. Breath Catch

**Grace**

**_By LilyDraken_**

* * *

Naruto looked up expectantly as Hinata walked in and softly closed the door. She looked exhausted. He rushed to her. "How are you?" Hinata gave him a weak smile. He could see the tear tracks still etched in her puffy cheeks. "Have you slept?" She shook her head.

Wordlessly Naruto scooped her into his arms and took her into the bedroom, lying her down. "Are you going to be able to sleep?"

"I think so," she whispered.

"I'll be here if you need me."

"I'll be fine."

Naruto kissed her on the forehead, then walked out, closing the door softly behind him.

* * *

Sakura walked through the streets in a fog. She knew she had pushed past her limit with Tenten, but it needed to be done. Rather she had to do it.

It was hard to believe Tenten nearly died. They finally achieved peace, after so long, it made no sense that something like this would-

Shino was dead. Tenten made it, but Shino was did not. He was dead. Shino. Dead.

'_Thank God it wasn't Tenten._'

The thought stopped Sakura in her tracks, horrified that she could even think such a thing. '_What the hell is wrong with you!_'

But it was the truth, and no matter how much she hated herself for it, she couldn't change it. She knew Kiba and Hinata were going through hell. She knew Naruto was beating himself up over it. Yet she could only feel relief that it wasn't one of _her_ people. She couldn't bear it right now.

'_I am a terrible person, thinking such a thing..._' Sakura resumed walking, feeling a new level of dejected. '_One of us dies, one of _us_, the rookie nine, and the only thing I can think is thank God it wasn't one of my friends? Would you even have tried to save Shino? You stupid, selfish, evil-_'

Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She angrily wiped them away, to no avail; they just kept coming. She ran off into the trees, not wishing anyone to see her fall apart. In the privacy of the glade, an anguished cry escaped her.

* * *

Naruto pushed open the heavy door to the Hokage office, expecting to find Kakashi perched on the window sill. Instead he found Sasuke sitting on the sofa, still banged up from the night before. His penetrating dark Uchiha eyes followed him as he crossed the room. "You look tired," he said.

Naruto shrugged in response. "Long night."

"What can I do?"

"Not much." He sagged into his chair. "I'm suspending your tails and check-ins for the time being. That helps."

Sasuke blinked in acknowledgment.

Long moments passed. There were losses, and then there were losses. It was different, being the one responsible for the lives under your command. An oversight, a glitch, something he missed, it could be any number of a hundred things that he just happened to-

"It wasn't your fault," said Sasuke.

"You don't know that," Naruto whispered.

Sasuke stood up and crossed the distance to the large desk and leaned down, putting himself at eye level with the hokage. "Did you personally go out and attack those ninja?"

"No," Naruto stated, affronted.

"Did you issue orders to have them attacked?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

Sasuke's unwavering gaze bore into him. "Then follow your own advice."

"You don't know what you're talking about," growled Naruto, "I'm the Hokage; I _am_ responsible for the lives of-"

Sasuke scoffed. "Get off the pedestal, dobe. We're ninja. We all know the risks. We fight. We bleed. We win. We lose. We die. We do what we do because it's who we are. _Who we chose to be_. So unless you're claiming to suddenly be omniscient, quit blaming yourself."

Naruto leaped up, striking out-

Sasuke's fist hit him square in the face, knocking him back over the desk, onto the chair, and finally into a heap on the floor.

"I was under the impression there were rules about that."

Kakashi. Naruto untangled himself from the chair and stood up to face him. "Yeah, well we all know how well Sasuke does with rules," he muttered sardonically as he rubbed his fractured nose.

"You deserved it," replied Sasuke.

Naruto gave Kakashi a telling look. "I did deserve it." Kakashi remained characteristically inexpressive. "Reports, I know," Naruto sighed. "Sasuke, you'll have to excuse us."

Sasuke nodded and walked out.

Naruto turned his attention to his mentor. "What now?"

Kakashi took a heavy breath, exhaling slowly. Naruto knew it was going to be a long morning.

* * *

Head between her knees, Sakura cried for what seemed like hours. Just when she thought she couldn't cry anymore, tears sprang anew, and she cried all over again.

Out of nowhere, strong arms wrapped around her. She tried to shove her assailant away, but her arms and legs were pinned between their chests and she had no leverage. She looked up into dark, probing eyes. "Sai," she sobbed, "go away."

Sai straightened her legs out, took a seat hip-to-hip of her, and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm a wretched, awful person, Sai," she stammered between heaving breaths, "you don't want to have anything to do with me, I'll only break you."

"Why are you a wretched, awful person?" he asked softly, pulling away and staring into her eyes.

"I'm selfish, and mean, and horrible. You told me what I did to Naruto-"

"You immediately tried to fix it-"

"And my only concern was ever Sasuke-"

"He was your teammate-"

"And I never thought about anyone else-"

"That's not the case-"

"Just my own pain-"

"Sakura, you're being-"

"I'm relieved it was Shino and not Tenten." Her breath caught. She said it out loud. She stared at him, waiting for him to judge her, unable to breathe.

Sai paused a moment, watching her intently. "Did you want Shino to die?"

Her eyes widened. "No, of course no-"

"Did you ever wish him any ill will?"

"Never! I would never-"

"Are you sad that he's gone?"

"Yes, of course I am! I-"

"And you're relieved that Tenten is alive?"

"Obviously, or I wouldn't be feeling so guil-"

"Does your relief for Tenten cancel out your sadness about Shino?"

She shook her head, "No..."

Sai shifted his weight, letting his hand drop to her hip. "Sasuke told me you left before dawn to go to the hospital."

"So?"

"I was at the hospital ten minutes ago and Neji said you'd just left."

She sighed, feeling tears burning again, waiting for him to judge her. "Make your point. Just say it."

"My point is that you're exhausted. You're understandably emotional right now and you're so totally exhausted you're berating yourself for thoughts that have no basis and make no sense."

Sakura's brows knitted together in confusion, as though trying to figure out the riddle he had just posed her.

Sai slipped the needle Neji had given him, hidden between his fingers, into her thigh. Her green eyes narrowed into slits before losing focus and finally closing. Sai picked her up and took her home.

* * *

The change in the atmosphere was noticeable. Sasuke knew the details and subsequent orders issued last night were jounin only, but all the Leaf-nin knew something was going on. Even the civilians seemed to sense it.

He felt so out of place. He knew more of what was going on than most, but had no orders to do anything about it. He was crawling out of his skin with need of something to do.

"You're having a rough time, aren't you?" Ino asked as she fell in step beside him.

"There are bigger issues than me right now."

"It must be hard wanting to do something and being able to do nothing." Sasuke gave her a warning look. She continued, "At least that's how I feel, so I know how hard it is."

Sasuke stopped and looked at her. She looked like she was searching for something. "Yeah. It sucks."

"I want to fix your face."

"Excuse me?"

Ino lifted her hand up, grazing her fingers against some bruising around his left eye. He involuntarily winced. "Let me fix it. Let me do something for someone so I don't feel so useless and frustrated. I know I can't help Kiba or Hinata right now, and the lesser injuries have already been treated, so I'm left feeling totally helpless and unable to contribute anything of value, and goddamit, I'm fixing that or I'll give you another one to match it!"

Sasuke nodded. It didn't matter so much to him, but if he could offer up his person in order to make someone else feel better about a shitty situation, so be it. It was better than the alternative.

* * *

Naruto pushed open the door of the bedroom, hoping to find Hinata still asleep. Instead she was sitting up, staring blankly at the door. "Hey," he said, crawling onto the bed beside her.

She turned her white eyes to him. "Your nose is broken."

He sighed. "Yeah."

"You've been taking care of me," she said quietly, stroking his hair, "let me take care of you."

Naruto curled up on her lap, into her embrace.

* * *

**A/N: **I apologize profusely for my epic tardiness in getting this out. I appreciate your patience and loyalty. I will try to update in a more timely manner. Leave love.

~Lily


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